The Eight Peaks Mountain, which haunted the dreams of the Anglronde clan, now loomed close, but Belegar felt the burden on his shoulders growing heavier.
Born 300 years ago in a refuge in the Black Mountains, Belegar was the direct descendant of the first king of the Anglronde, Rune. At that time, the Anglronde clan was in decline, having dwindled from a peak of 100,000 to just over 30,000. Besides inheriting the Hammer of Anglronde, a divine artifact from his ancestors, Belegar inherited only a legacy of endless hatred, a book brimming with grudges, and a dwarf clan nearly crushed by the weight of years and despair over the task of reclaiming the Eight Peaks Mountain.
Belegar knew that if things continued this way, the Anglronde clan was doomed to fade away. Dwarves are not a race that can survive as nomadic tribes; only by reclaiming the Eight Peaks Mountain from the greenskins could the Anglronde clan be revitalized.
About 85 years ago, Belegar made his first attempt to reclaim the Eight Peaks Mountain.
That battle was a disastrous defeat. Caught off guard, the expeditionary force was completely routed, and Belegar barely escaped with his life. Two weeks later, the defeated king of Anglronde managed to regroup hundreds of fleeing soldiers and start the return journey.
Then, he spent another thirty years preparing. He personally went to the Eternal Peak to seek help from the High King of the dwarves, borrowing a powerful army and coming close to the main fortress, but ultimately they were defeated under the relentless waves of greenskin attacks.
The challenge of attacking the Eight Peaks Mountain was immense.
The Eight Peaks Mountain is located within a bowl-shaped mountain range, surrounded by eight peaks, each with its own unique name. Due to the towering height of these mountains, no army from the surface world could cross them, making it the chosen capital of the Anglronde clan. The strongholds and walls built by the dwarves of yore had become a nightmare for their descendants because from the mining towns at the foot of the mountain to the watchtowers midway up, from the majestic dwarf strongholds to the grand main fortress, Belegar's forces needed to breach more than a dozen defensive lines. Inside the Eight Peaks Mountain, a veritable ocean of green plague awaited, not about to let Belegar and his forces succeed easily.
Most of the city was deep within the mountains. The majority of its vast areas were carved out of rock, featuring grand plazas and royal halls, with endless networks of veins beneath them, where hordes of Skaven ratmen lurked in the dark.
After the failure of the second expedition, Belegar learned his lessons. He spent decades reorganizing his armaments, rallying his troops, and gathering funds. He studied almost every known siege tactic, ensuring that no fortress, no matter how elite its guards, could withstand his assault without either surrendering or collapsing.
Now, proclaiming himself the King of the Eight Peaks, he led his forces back for a third expedition to his homeland.
This time, Belegar had prepared meticulously.
He did not directly attack the main gate of the Eight Peaks Mountain, knowing well that even if his forces could breach it, more than a dozen checkpoints awaited them inside.
Belegar first led his 8,000-strong expeditionary force to strike at several small greenskin tribes near the Eight Peaks Mountain.
A piece of good news reached the dwarves: the self-proclaimed Warlord of the Eight Peaks, the greenskin goblin leader Skarsnik of the Moonclan, was away with his elite troops, leaving the mountain unguarded.
Seizing the opportunity, Belegar began his plan.
For each greenskin tribe he wiped out, Belegar ordered not to kill all but to leave a few articulate goblins to return to the Eight Peaks Mountain's garrison and report their defeat and the appearance of the dwarf expeditionary force.
As these survivors continuously poured into the gates of the Eight Peaks Mountain, reporting their defeats, the goblin warlords responsible for its defense grew increasingly angry and fearful. They yelled in chaos that the "bearded enemy" had come. Over several days, as more survivors arrived at the gates requesting support, the morale of the goblin defenders gradually dwindled.
Belegar patiently waited three days before finally launching his attack.
With battering rams, siege towers, cannons, and mining, Belegar could easily spot the weakest points in the enemy's defenses as he surveyed their walls. Dwarf miners slowly approached the fortress by digging trenches and tunnels, then surged into the fortress under the cover of cannons and blasting charges. Meanwhile, dwarf miners also built earthen ramparts and protective
walls, allowing the thunderous gunners and rangers of the dwarves to effectively suppress the firepower from the walls. The goblins, lacking Skarsnik's command, quickly collapsed, and Belegar successfully breached the gates of the Eight Peaks Mountain.
The initial battle was a success, but Belegar did not let victory cloud his judgment. He knew all too well the difficulties of reclaiming the Eight Peaks Mountain. Under his command, the dwarves constructed numerous fortifications, advancing step by step, driving the Moonclan back repeatedly.
After more than a month, Belegar's forces had repelled several counterattacks by the Moonclan, broken through five defensive lines, and established a base in the mining town at the foot of the mountain, aiming directly for the watchtower midway up the slope.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly.
However, just as Belegar was engaged in fierce battle within the Eight Peaks Mountain, Skarsnik, the leader of the Moonclan and self-styled "Warlord of the Eight Peaks," returned.
Skarsnik was a cunning goblin warlord, one of the few goblins to rise to leadership in the greenskin social order of orcs—goblins—snotlings. His extraordinary cunning and malicious nature were the keys to his success. Relying on his giant cave squig, "Gobbla," Skarsnik had turned the orcs into subordinates of his goblins.
Many orcs had attempted to rebel against Skarsnik's rule, and without exception, they ended up as meals in Gobbla's stomach, repeatedly confirming Skarsnik's iron-fisted rule and absolute leadership over the Moonclan.
Now, Skarsnik, returning from his expedition, received reports from the whelps: the bearded enemy had come!
"Hehe, ready to fight, ready to shoot, I've captured many squigs this time. Since the bearded enemy has come, isn't that even more fun?" Skarsnik laughed wickedly: "Hehehehe~ Here they come! Life is always full of surprises!"
"Boys! Follow me! Let's settle this with the bearded enemy!" Skarsnik raised his sword: "We're going to make these dwarflets pay, their legs are thick and short, they'll probably take a long time to catch up with us!"
"waaaaaaaaaaagh!" Skarsnik raised his sword, exuding the power of his mischievous brother.
Behind him were thousands of Night Goblin fanatics, tens of thousands of orcs and goblin boys, over eight hundred squig riders, and a giant forest spider.
"waaagh!"
"waaaaaaaaaaagh!"
"waaaaaaaaaaagh!"
The green tide spread once again under Skarsnik's call.
...
As Belegar attempted to attack the watchtower on the mountainside, he keenly felt that the greenskin's attacks were somewhat different.
After breaking through five defensive lines in half a month, the dwarf expeditionary force had seen hope for the recapture of the Eight Peaks Mountain.
But the situation quickly took a turn for the worse.
The greenskins no longer used orcs or hordes of goblins for frontal assaults but instead employed segmented flanking and extensive harassment by goblin squig riders and wolf riders, blocking the dwarves' advance.
This exposed the dwarves' greatest weakness—slow speed and very low mobility. When the greenskin forces abandoned frontal assaults for repeated harassment and flanking maneuvers, the dwarves simply had no way to catch up with and eliminate these greenskin mobile forces.
Even the lowest-ranked snotlings in the greenskin ranks could run as fast as the swiftest dwarf rangers, let alone other units. The greenskins' repeated harassments allowed Belegar and his forces to repel them time and again, but they could not annihilate them. They couldn't catch up, and if the dwarves blindly pursued and encountered a greenskin counterattack, they were easily outmaneuvered and annihilated by the greenskins, unable to escape.
After a day of such battles, the dwarf expeditionary force suffered significant losses.
"If only we had a strong cavalry," Belegar thought distressedly. He had already considered strategies, but dwarves lacked cavalry, and being at a disadvantage against greenskin cavalry was inevitable.
"Do not blindly chase the enemy! Watch the flanks, use cannons and firearms to attack the approaching enemies! Tighten the formation!" Belegar immediately issued his command: "Slow down, advance in layers!"
"Roar!"
Following Belegar's command, the dwarf expeditionary force tightened its positions and continuously built fortifications to stabilize the situation.
However, the fatal problem of the dwarf army was never resolved. They simply couldn't catch up. Their excessively slow speed caused Belegar's forces to lose the initiative, and the control of the battle shifted from the dwarves to the greenskins.
This was Skarsnik's plan. Under the harassment
of goblin squig riders and wolf riders, the dwarf forces dared not leave the protection of their gunmen, rangers, and cannons.
Now, the dwarves were becoming passive in the battle.
With goblin wolf riders harassing from the outskirts, the dwarf expeditionary force was pinned down within their fortifications, coordination deteriorated, and goblin dive bombers loaded snotlings into catapults, equipped them with crude canvas wings to allow them to adjust their direction in mid-air, and used them for kamikaze attacks to destroy the dwarf defenses.
This move caught the dwarves off guard. Unable to leave their fortifications, they were completely unaware of the outside situation. After several days of fierce fighting, the morale of the dwarf expeditionary force gradually waned, their advance slowed, and their ammunition began to dwindle.
What made matters worse was that many in the dwarf army began to voice their discontent. They believed that dwarf honor was not about hiding behind fortifications but about bravely confronting the greenskins in direct combat. As the battle grew tense and prolonged, this sentiment grew louder within the dwarf ranks, exposing a critical weakness to Skarsnik.
That was discord among the troops.
Belegar's expeditionary force was mainly composed of refugees from the Anglronde clan and warriors from other kingdoms, hired through speeches and promises of sharing the riches after reclaiming the Eight Peaks Mountain.
How could they endure without these promises being fulfilled?
After several more days of fighting, Belegar began to feel the immense pressure. Ammunition for cannons, bolts for dwarf rangers, and bullets for gunners were critically low, and the goblins' harassment was relentless. The fortifications that had been painstakingly built were being destroyed by goblin glider attacks.
Dwarf morale began to falter, and in this situation, Belegar was forced to agree to leave the fortifications and engage Skarsnik and his Moonclan in open field battle.
This played right into Skarsnik's hands. The goblin warlord had finally gotten the scenario he wanted. Under his command, tens of thousands of greenskins surrounded the dwarves who had come out to fight in the open.
After days of hard fighting, with a lack of ammunition and low morale, the dwarf expeditionary force was overwhelmed by the green tide. Although the dwarves were resistant and fought bravely, they could not withstand the fierce greenskin onslaught and were forced to abandon the defensive fortifications at the foot of the mountain, retreating towards the gates.
However, the dwarves were too slow and were quickly caught up by the greenskin army.
To cover the retreat of the expeditionary force, a portion of the dwarf army launched a desperate countercharge against the greenskins.
"My king, we will cover you! Escape quickly!" a team of Ironhammer warriors charged wave after wave at the greenskin hordes, trying to hold back their advance.
As Belegar saw his expeditionary force being routed, his heart was torn. He had no choice but to flee desperately. Looking up, Belegar saw a large group of Night Goblin fanatics blocking the retreat path of the dwarf expeditionary force.
On the left were hundreds of orc boys and goblin squig riders.
On the right were hundreds of goblin wolf riders.
Behind him, at least twenty thousand goblin boys and a large group of orcs, Skarsnik had even deployed his two personal guard units, "Warlord of the Eight Peaks' Personal Guard Boys" and "Madmen of the Eight Peaks," to the battlefield.
"We're surrounded!" a dwarf cried out loudly: "Grongni, grant your descendants strength!"
"We can't escape!"
"Fight! Fight to the last man!"
The dwarf expeditionary force was caught in deep turmoil as the greenskin tide gradually devoured them from all sides.
Under the protection of his guard, Belegar fled in disarray. The King of Anglronde couldn't help but sob loudly. He had prepared so thoroughly for this expedition, yet they had been defeated so easily. The clan's strength was severely diminished. How long would it take to reclaim the Eight Peaks Mountain?
Tears streamed down Belegar's face as he saw many dwarf warriors using their bodies to block the greenskin troops. The Ironhammer warriors launched wave after wave of desperate charges to cover their brethren's retreat. Thunderous gunners and dwarf rangers were forced into close combat and then slaughtered by the greenskins. The cannon crews, to prevent the greenskins from capturing the dwarf siege weapons, ignited the powder kegs and perished along with countless charging greenskins.
Not far away, Skarsnik was commanding the battle. The sharp-eyed goblin warlord immediately spotted Belegar and shouted, "That dwarf in the blue cloak with a red hammer on it is Belegar!"
Hearing this, Belegar's heart sank. He knew all too well what it meant to fall into Skarsnik's hands. All dwarves captured by greens
kins would have their beards and hair shaved off, and a greenskin tattoo branded on their foreheads. This fate was worse than death for a dwarf, as those subjected to such treatment would become mentally unstable and never recover.
The King of Anglronde quickly threw his cloak to the ground and continued to flee with his guard.
"Aaaah!" Skarsnik saw the greenskins scrambling for the cloak, allowing Belegar to escape, and screamed in frustration: "The bearded one is Belegar!!!"
Hearing Skarsnik's command, the greenskins abandoned the cloak and began searching the chaotic battlefield for a bearded dwarf.
Hearing this, Belegar quickly pulled out a dagger and cut off part of his beard to match the length of a normal dwarf's beard. At this moment, the King of Anglronde couldn't care less.
Cutting off his beard was an indelible disgrace, but staying alive was most important! Otherwise, the mission to reclaim the Eight Peaks Mountain could never be accomplished!
Once again, the greenskins lost their target and couldn't find a particularly long-bearded dwarf, resuming their individual fights.
"Aaaah, idiots!" Skarsnik jumped in frustration: "The one with a medium-length beard is Belegar!"
"???" The greenskins paused, confused.
The battlefield was full of dwarves with medium-length beards.
The greenskins' attack halted momentarily, all unsure of what their leader meant. Taking advantage of this confusion, Belegar led the remaining 2,000 survivors to break through the encirclement and escape towards the gates of the Eight Peaks Mountain.
"Idiots! Idiots!" Skarsnik was about to lead his troops in pursuit when suddenly, an explosion collapsed a mine on the mountainside.
"Boom!"
Everyone was stunned by this sudden turn of events.
Hordes of ratmen surged out of the large hole like a tsunami, immediately splitting the greenskin army in two and catching the Moonclan unprepared, resulting in heavy losses.
In the eerie green glow of the mine, a red ratman warlord chattered incessantly.
"Yesyes! Bearded thing, already die, die! Little, little green thing, will be torn, torn apart by our great, great, great Skaven Empire, attack, attack!"
Thousands of ratmen joined the battle, striking the greenskin army from the side. Caught off guard, the Moonclan suffered severe losses.
"No, no good! Boss! It's the rat, ratmen!" a goblin shaman shouted to Skarsnik: "The rat, ratmen are attacking us!"
"Queek! It's Queek! Send orders, let the boys stop chasing the dwarflets! Everyone come back and fight the rats!" Skarsnik roared in extreme anger: "Fight the rats first!"
"Yes!"
At this time, Belegar had gathered the remaining 3,000 survivors of the expeditionary force and escaped a short distance. In the distance, the Moonclan and the ratmen were locked in fierce combat.
"My king! It's the ratmen, they've ambushed the Moonclan! The greenskins are too busy to bother with us now!" an Iron Warrior shouted to Belegar: "Take this chance, let's retreat!"
"Retreat! Retreat!"
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