"waaaagh!"
"waaaaaaaagh!!!"
"Fire!!!" The flag waved, the fuse was lit, and the thunderous sound of cannons marked the beginning of the battle.
"Launch!" The mercenaries from Marinburg loaded rocks into the catapults, tightened the winches, and released or cut the ropes, sending the boulders hurling towards the massive greenskin army. The formidable siege weapons inflicted heavy casualties on the densely packed greenskins.
But this couldn't stop their advance. The green tide rolled on, with hordes of orc boys and goblin fighters braving the storm of bullets, crossbow bolts, and arrows. Goblins fell to arrows, but the orc boys seemed unaffected, many becoming pincushions yet charging towards the allied lines as if unharmed.
This is the essence of greenskins; perhaps these fearsome creatures feel little pain. In their frenzy of battle, only the most lethal wounds can make them feel pain, existing solely for destruction and combat.
"Fire!" The musketeers opened fire en masse, and countless lead bullets shot out. Even the orc boys couldn't withstand the firepower, and the first wave that charged forward was turned into sieves, falling in heaps.
At the same time, the greenskin army responded with a volley of arrows and bolts from goblins and orc archers. Despite their poor accuracy, the sheer volume of their arrows put the humans on the defensive, with Empire soldiers raising shields and Marinburg mercenaries preparing for close combat.
The Bretonnian serf archers fared the worst. Clad only in tunics, they were extremely vulnerable to the greenskin counterattack. A rain of arrows left dozens of archers dead, with the survivors retreating in disarray.
A cloaked wizard stood behind the army, one of Marinburg's guardians, Master Elliot. He murmured spells, gathering powerful magical energy around him before releasing it.
"Yrden's Lightning Bolt!!!"
A rift tore open in the sky, and lightning struck down, turning dozens of greenskins to ash in an instant.
"waaaagh!!!"
"waaaagh!!!"
The greenskin horde never ceased. Orc boys with shields and swords closed in on the formation, stinking greenskins sliced through two Marinburg mercenaries with a single swing, roaring: "Gul'rok is the best!!!"
"Die, beast!" Alfred ran his sword through the orc boy, the Templar Knights banging their shields: "Come on! In the name of our Lord, eliminate these monsters!"
"Charge!!!" The mercenaries raised their spears and halberds, impaling the charging greenskins, who fell but were quickly replaced by more, engaging in close combat with the soldiers.
All armies did the same.
At that moment, a fast-moving unit of goblin wolf riders emerged from behind the greenskin forces, circling to the allied flank like lightning, targeting the Bretonnian infantry engaged in fierce battle, drawing bows and loosing arrows. Many foot soldiers were caught off guard, falling to the sudden assault.
"Goblin wolf riders!" Grail Knight Eules bellowed: "Soldiers! Watch the flanks!"
"Lord Eules, we request to charge!" Many questing knights were already eager to fight, asking for permission to engage.
"No! You can't catch those wolf riders!" Eules halted their action.
Seeing the Bretonnian knights hesitating, the goblin wolf riders mocked their cowardice loudly, infuriating the hot-blooded questing knights, their faces turning red with rage.
"Outriders!!! Eliminate those goblins." Eules drew his sword, and the Bretonnian outriders responded. Mounted on requisitioned horses and lightly equipped, many only wore tunics, carrying bows and lances. Fighting alongside knights was the highest honor for these serfs, and rumors suggested the most valiant outriders could rise to knighthood.
However, barring extreme cases, no outrider had yet been knighted, as knights were loath to fight alongside these "mudlegs" and tarnish their status.
"For Bretonnia!" The outriders charged out, bending bows or raising hand crossbows, launching a fierce attack on the goblin wolf riders, who retreated under pressure, engaging in guerrilla warfare with the outriders.
Cannons roared, the greenskin numbers seemed endless, and the human formation stood firm against them. Cannoneers, with surgical precision, destroyed the primitive rock throwers of the greenskins, while mortars and Hellstorm Rocket Batteries from the Engineering College tore huge gaps in the enemy ranks with each explosion, sending dozens of greenskin and goblin bodies flying.
"Hold the line! Hold the line!" Human casualties began to mount, with Empire captains and sergeants constantly reporting the situation to Duke Ivan.
"The First Infantry Regiment of Reikland has broken!"
"The Third Infantry Battalion of Reikland has suffered too many losses! We need to retreat!"
"The greatswordsmen of Carroburg have entered the battlefield!"
Duke Ivan's face was grave as he issued command after command, reinforcing the line again and again, anchoring the allied forces firmly on the plains of Kohlerson.
When the greenskins became too crowded, causing confusion among their ranks, many orc boys were trapped and bewildered by the sea of green around them. These brainless creatures began to charge randomly, throwing the greenskin formations into chaos.
Now! Ivan raised the battle standard: "Knights! Flank and envelop the enemy!"
"For the Lady! For Bretonnia!!!" Eules drew his sword: "Knights, follow me!"
"Manann above! Tear our enemies apart!" The captain of the Knights of the Trident also roared.
"Here they come!" Ryan raised his warhammer, leading his horse, and began the charge with a host of knights.
The knights bypassed the fiercely fighting human lines, launching a powerful assault on the greenskins' side and rear.
The strongest knights of the Old World, the Bretonnian knights, raised their lances, their hooves thundering like rolling thunder, carrying the Bretonnians' hatred and fury against evil. With their horses neighing and dirt and mud flying behind them, the arrows shot by the greenskins darkened the sky, but the knights had not a shred of fear in their hearts.
"For the Lady!"
"For the Lady!"
Ryan also raised his warhammer, shouting at the top of his lungs: "For the Lady!!!"
Many questing knights fell to arrows and died on the spot, but most knights fortunately evaded the locust-like arrows, chanting the Lady of the Lake's honorifics, forming a massive storm that swept towards the greenskin army.
Ryan and Eules led the charge at the forefront. Ryan had already picked his target, a robust orc brute. These brutes were bloodier and more combative than regular orc boys, bigger and more belligerent.
Closer and closer, Ryan could smell the stench and rot from the greenskins.
"For the Lady!!!" Ryan was the first to plunge into the greenskin ranks, facing countless spears aimed at him. He swept away a dozen spears with his warhammer, sending many orc boys flying, then brought down his hammer on a brute who had no time to react, turning him into a spray of blood.
Ryan's actions greatly inspired the knights' morale. The questing knights formed a wedge formation, following the breach Ryan had created, their armored horses sturdy and resilient. Their lances, with the force of the knights and horses, plunged into the greenskin army. Shouts, screams, and roars echoed over the plains, shaking the ground.
The knights flooded into the enemy lines, reaping greenskin lives.
Lances broke, bones shattered, and the sound of metal clashing was incessant. The questing knights let their lances break against orc skulls or chests, then either took new lances from their squires or drew their swords, continuing to harvest the lives of orc boys.
"For the Lady!!!" The knights were like a deathly whirlwind sweeping through the greenskin ranks, their swords and lances already drunk with the blood of these evil creatures. The armored horses raised their heads high, trampling orc heads and using their robust bodies to push through, the mighty knights cutting a path through the greenskin lines, leaving only endless death and dismemberment in their wake.
Ryan led the charge, his warhammer ending the life of an orc with every swing, sometimes even more. Pinecone seemed to understand his master's intent, continuously charging into dense greenskin groups. The newly appointed Grail Knight brought destruction wherever he went, charging back and forth, killing dozens of greenskins, including many brutes.
With one swing, Ryan sent an orc boy's head flying from its neck, then grabbed a goblin attempting a sneak attack by its head and crushed it with his bare hand. His warhammer swung continuously, killing three orc boys charging with spears instantly. Then, with a kick to the face of an orc brute wielding a large cleaver, his warhammer smashed the brute's head into its chest cavity.
With the minor foes dead before him, Ryan spurred his horse forward, Pinecone rearing up and neighing loudly. Standing atop countless orc corpses, Ryan shouted over the din of battle: "For the Lady!"
"For the Lady!!!" The questing knights' morale soared, with Ryan and Eules leading the Bretonnian knights through enemy ranks, shattering one greenskin formation after another, cutting down orc after orc beneath their hooves.
Until they suddenly faced the Sea Blue Cloaked Knights of the Trident, realizing they stood amidst bodies and fleeing figures of greenskins.
Only the victorious shouts of the allied soldiers remained on the battlefield, with the questing knights loudly proclaiming their names and praising the Lady of the Lake.
"Duke, we've repelled the greenskins!" An Empire captain excitedly reported to Ivan in the central army.
"It's not that simple," the Griffin Duke frowned.
"Continue, let's annihilate the enemy!" On the battlefield, Grail Knight Eules was about to rally the knights for a final strike against the greenskins when his horse became restless. The ground trembled, and Eules looked towards the horizon, his smile freezing on his face.
A tumultuous noise approached from the northwest, a new force appeared far from the Bretonnian lines. Orc brutes riding boars surged out of the forests, forming a cavalry force of alarming size. They tore apart fleeing goblin wolf riders and orc boys, their muscular forms and giant tusks rampaging across the plains, overpowering the Bretonnian outriders in a massacre.
The leading boar rider, the largest knight had ever seen, was clearly an orc warboss.
From the northeast, a giant over ten meters tall appeared, attacking Marinburg's mercenary lines. The dim-witted giant swung a massive club, easily sending fragile mercenaries flying, their screams filling the air.
And in the front, the sound of war drums thundered, with young questing knights witnessing strong orcs they had never seen before. They banged on war drums, rallying the previously scattered greenskin army under their beat.
A huge shadow crossed the sky as orc warboss Ugruklok and his two-legged dragon made an entrance, the dragon's dive crushing an entire column of Empire troops, biting an Empire captain in half,
Then soaring in the sky, orc warboss Ugruklok stood atop the dragon, bellowing.
"waaaaaaagh!!"
"waaaaaaaaaaagh!!!"
The greenskins' morale was restored under Ugruklok's encouragement, howling and regrouping.
Meanwhile, more robust and savage wild orcs surged from the horizon, bolstering the greenskin ranks.
"Knights, reform the lines! Face those boar riders!" Eules decisively ordered the knights to regroup, leading them against the boar riders: "For the Lady! For Bretonnia!"
"waaaaaaaaaaagh!" The orc brutes on boar riders, wielding large cleavers and axes, clashed fiercely with the knights. One moment, a young questing knight pierced an orc's chest with his lance; the next, he was cleaved in two.
The sound of blades cutting through metal, the neighing of horses, and the roaring of boars were incessant.
In a single clash, dozens of questing knights and hundreds of knight squires fell, killed in action, with the greenskins leaving behind over fifty corpses.
Ryan's face was splattered with blood, he turned his horse, ready to continue the fight.
Then, a loud neighing came from the central army: "Ugh ahh ahh ahh!"
The Griffin Duke himself joined the battle.
For the Lady! For Bretonnia!
___________________
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