The troops departing from Castle Griffenstein are half of the expedition's total force. The other half will join them in the city on the way to Wallabach.
Half of the expedition's total mobilization of 50,000 men is the reinforcements, and there are 25,000 combatants.
Each unit was organized with 200 men. Each unit was composed of half combat troops and half cavalry.
From Griffenstein Castle, 125 units set out one after the other. It was about 400 kilometers southwest to Wallabach. There are mountains, narrow roads, and cloth on the way. The march takes a long time and is physically demanding. It took about 20 days of marching to reach Wallabach.
Many residents of the neighborhood of Griffenstein Castle came out to watch the march of such a large army. Girls handed out flowers to the soldiers, wishing them victory.
It took all 125 units a full day to march out of Griffenstein Castle. Aldes, a member of the 5th, was marching in the middle of the procession. Next to him was Walo.
"Aldes, Wolffo is with the 26th, the mounted unit."
Wolpo leaned in and spoke in Aldes's ear.
"Aye. I see."
"Then why your unit?"
Wallo wondered why Aldeth wanted to know how many troops Wolffo was in.
"He's my lord's brother, shouldn't we take good care of him on a dangerous battlefield?"
"That's true, but since you're a hostage, I thought you wouldn't be too interested in the well-being of your lord and his family."
"Haha, that's a mistake! Why else would I have volunteered to join the expedition to Wallabach, I'm doing it for House Gerho."
"I don't see how that makes sense. You're doing it because you want to make a name for yourself and be free. You can be honest with me."
"By the way, Wallabach is a long way away. I've never walked this far in my life."
Aldes turned his horse around.
"You'll be exhausted by the time we get there, and you'll be lucky if you don't fall."
The paths through the mountains, fields, and forests were packed with soldiers, oxen, and horse-drawn carts drawn by the cavalry. The villagers along the way had heard the news of the expedition and had come out to watch.
The rest of the troops joined them from the towns of Raristad, Wachtenstein, and Hirsefels on the way to Wallabach.
There were bandits in the nearby mountains as the expedition passed, but with so many soldiers on the march, there was no thought of plunder.
By the time they passed through Hirsefels, the nearest city to Wallabach, they had gathered a total of about 50,000 men. To welcome the troops, the city of Walleibach turned a large field outside the city into an encampment.
The cavalry had brought plenty of food from Griffenstein, but it wasn't enough. They decided to make up the difference in Wallabach.
The city of Wallabach had been plagued by Orcish invasions, but the expedition was coming to destroy the Orcs, and they needed to use all their resources to help supply the expedition.
The southeast side of the city of Wallabach was almost uninhabitable. With the frequent arrival of the orcs, the area was uninhabited and in ruins. Houses and buildings were nearly destroyed.
The entirety of the Wallabach expedition had arrived. The leaders of the expedition, under the leadership of Captain Arich, gathered in the barracks.
"How many have fallen?"
Arichi asked.
This expedition was long. It was a march through narrow roads, mountains, and fields, and there were bound to be stragglers.
"Total, 258 men."
Captain Snuso said.
"What, two hundred and fifty-eight? Why are there so many stragglers?"
"Well. Because so many men were mobilized for this expedition to Wallabach in such a short time, some of them were recruited with poor health and nutrition."
"Well, I see. The long march must have worn them out, and we'll head for the Forest of Welcome Fangs to regain our strength."
"And the rest period? Three days?"
"Three days? No. Two days."
"Okay. I'll make sure you know that and get ready."
Two days' rest was actually not enough, since they had walked a long way without stopping. In any case, the soldiers were happy to think that they would not have to walk for the next two days.
Chizhong was busy preparing the soldiers' meals. After the soldiers ate, they sat around chatting, playing dice, or cards.
The soldiers were paid weekly, so there was no shortage of money during the war.
The Gerhós had financed this expedition to Wallabach quite well. Failure to drive the Orcs out of Wallabach would put House Gerho at considerable financial and military risk.
Merchants roamed the camp busily selling raisins, peanuts, potatoes, and other military snacks to the soldiers.
With no marching during their rest periods, the hardened soldiers had other appetites. The pimps who ran the prostitution business in Wallabach and neighboring towns couldn't pass up the opportunity.
They set up their tents near the encampment and traveled from camp to camp looking for clients. The pimps carried charcoal sketches of the faces of the women they had in their possession, and they showed them to the soldiers, letting them choose their favorite.
There's no way that Arich, the commander, didn't know about this business, but he didn't stop it for the sake of morale.
Each unit was assigned a tent. Aldes stayed with Wallo, Dalbry, and Baibo, the men he had trained with at Castle Griffenstein. Russo bought some food from a vendor and came into Aldes's tent.
"I brought you something. Eat."
Rousseau held out a pouch of raisins and potatoes in each hand.
"Captain, you didn't do this when you were at Arenberg Castle."
D'Albri said.
"Nonsense. I take care of my own men."
"Whatever, I'll eat."
Aldeth, Walo, Dalbry, and Vaivo gave a collective thank you.
"Hey, troop leader, someone's been carrying around a painting of a woman and haggling over it."
D'Albri said.
"Hey, you guys, don't get all worked up over nothing. You think this war is a joke?"
"It's supposed to cheer us up, isn't it?"
"I don't know about the others, but we, the Fifth, can't have that. They're well fed and have been resting for two days. They've been marching for a long time and must be tired!"
"Yes, you're right, sir, we need to keep our bodies and minds ready. It's no use wasting energy for nothing, is it, sir?"
Aldeth said in a condescending tone.
"That's right. Aldeth is right. He's a good swordsman, and he's got a good attitude."
"If Aldeth says don't do something, don't do it."
Said Wallo.
"Wallo, aren't you being too nice to Aldes? He's so much younger."
Vaibo said.
"Age doesn't matter in a battlefield of death and killing, only the strong survive."
Walo said.
"Yes, Walo is right, I want to see you guys for a long time. Get some rest."
Russo said, and left the tent.
Aldes and his soldiers echoed Russo's words of longing in their ears.
On the eve of the march, the commander-in-chief, the captain, and the troop leaders gathered for a meeting. It was decided that the army would march in a wide circle toward the Fang Forest. The Fang Forest was very large, and they didn't know where the orcs would come from, so they decided to spread out and march as far as possible.
The day of the march arrived. Before the sun rose, the cavalry prepared a meal. The soldiers finished breakfast.
- Pow, pow, pow!
The sound of ram horns announcing the march echoed through the camp.
More than two hundred troops were marching southwest from Wallabach to the Welcoming Fang Forest.
It was only a two-day march away. On the way to the Fangs of Welcome, they encountered several orcs.
The expedition killed any orcs they encountered on sight.
Few on the expedition actually saw an orc. What they did see was what they looked like and what they said to each other.
Word of the Orcs reached the Fifth Legion.
"They say that the advance party killed some orcs they encountered on their way to the Forest of Illusory Fangs."
Russo said.
"Did they suffer any casualties on our side?"
Walo asked.
"They say we killed four orcs, one dead and one badly wounded, even though we outnumbered them."
"With so many troops, you still managed to take a casualty?"
"Green skin, over two meters tall, forearms as thick as a man's thigh."
"That's a lot."
"I heard he uses a Warhammer as a weapon."
"That's right, he swings his warhammer around, even when he's surrounded on all sides, and he gets victims."
Hearing Rousseau's story, the men of Troop 5 realized that dealing with the orcs would be a challenge.
If they met an Orc one-on-one in the woods, it would be hard to beat them.
Aldeth couldn't wait to see how strong the Orcs were.
The party decided to spend the night near the Forest of Welcome Fangs and enter the forest the next day.
The party took turns on guard duty, not knowing when or where the orcs would attack.
Aldeth was eating dinner next to Russo.
"Where is the second company?"
"They're light infantry like us, so they're close to us."
"Where's the third?"
"Third is a little farther away."
"What about the 26th?"
"Aldes, you're not even the captain, why are you asking me about unit assignments?"
"Basically, I need to know where and which units are where."
Aldes was actually only curious about the location of the 26th, since that's where the wall guns were, but it would seem odd to ask about the location of the 26th alone, so he asked about the other units he was interested in as well.
"The 26th is fairly close. When we march tomorrow, the 26th is a cavalry unit, so they'll go into the woods in the front with the other cavalry."
Aldeth realized that even if the cavalry attacked from horseback, they would have a hard time dealing with the taller and stronger Orcs.
The expedition finished eating, some resting in their tents, some on guard duty. It was a new moon, so it was dark. The only sounds were grasshoppers and frogs.
The crescent moon was passing through the middle of the night sky. The soldiers on guard duty were on edge, having heard of the power of the orcs during the day. This is the border of the Forest of Illusory Fangs, the source of the Orcs.
Inside the forest, the sound of trampling grass could be heard in several places. Among the trees and grass, fangs gleamed in the light of the crescent moon.
The trampling of the grass and the light reflecting off the fangs indicated that the forest was approaching the boundary from the inside.