Rise of the Horde

Inside the great hall where Baron Ragab used to have meetings with his subordinates, one after the other, the leading figures on the side of the horde entered. The hall had simple decorations and its walls of monotonous grey in color. The chairs and tables were seemed modest with little gold and silver ornaments adoring them.

The baron valued practicality more than luxury. This could be observed through the state that his manor was in. He kept everything that was of extravagance to the minimum.

At the head of the table, Khao'khen silently sat there with his arms crossed over his chest. He was reading an urgent report that was sent to him by Kul'tha. The report stated that an unknown group of riders assaulted their supply lines resulting in the death of the fifty orc warriors and five hundred human guards.

The assault also resulted in numerous supplies falling into the hands of the unknown bandits.

The supply lines had been already assaulted twice by unknown robbers but Kul'tha was certain that the two attacks were done by the same group. Survivors of the attack always mentioned of the desert's anger and the attack was their punishment for their sins. The attack on their supply lines was always accompanied by a raging sandstorm.

Khao'khen was lost in his thoughts. This was the first time that he had encountered a situation where the possibility of someone in control of natural calamity existed. "Well, magic exists in this world," he can't help but accept the fact that there could be someone in command of such power. He had already witnessed trolls summoning blazing flames and orc shamans throwing bolts of lightning.

Someone who can command the numerous grains of sand in the desert was possible.

In the report, the head of the logistics of the horde informed him that they will not be able to resupply the front lines, until the path was still unsafe, less they will just be supplying unknown hostile forces.

For the meantime, the horde had no problems with their supplies. The warehouses of the town were sufficient enough to feed the residents and the warriors on their side for at least a month. He doubted that it would take them more than a month to take down the capital.

After finishing writing his reply, Khao'khen called for a runner to deliver the message.

Right on time the leading figure of their side entered the great hall.

Sakh'arran, the Horde Chief of the Yohan 1st Horde.

Trot'thar, War Chief of the Yohan 1st Horde.

Gur'kan, War Chief of the Yohan 1st Horde.

Maghazz, Commander of the Verakhs.

Haguk, Commander of the Warg Cavalry.

Dhug'mhar, Commander of the Rhakaddon Cavalry.

Adhalia and Faynah, leaders of the Darkhariss Family.

Zaraki the Black, Grand Commander of the Darkhariss' Army.

There were many more that were called upon by Khao'khen but many declined his invitation due to them feeling that they weren't worthy to join such a gathering

"Alright then, we may begin. Start with the reports about the recent battle," he opened up the meeting.

"In the recent battle, Ikarush suffered two worth of warbands in the number of wounded. Three quarters of their numbers were just minor cuts, and the remaining number sustained wounds that require a few days of rest, ranging from two days at the earliest and more than a week in the most serious ones," Sakh'arran reported as he read the unfurled scroll that he had brought with him.

This was the first time that he had done such a thing. He was used to just saying what he had to say but according to the chieftain, such things should be properly recorded.

"In the recent battle, we have captured more than eight thousands of the fleeing enemy soldiers. We estimate that the enemy army suffered loses between the ranges of twenty thousand to forty thousand," he continued as he rolled back the scroll after giving his report.

The next one to stand up was Trot'thar. On his hand was also a scroll and just like what Sakh'arran did, he too unfurled the scroll and started reading what was written on it with all seriousness. "Among the trolls, four fell prey to enemy arrows and more than a hundred were injured in the skirmish. According to the numbers, all the wounded just suffered minor wounds and nothing serious in nature."

Trot'thar was quick to finish his report and sat down but before that, he gave Gur'kan a mocking glance.

In the previous battle, Gur'kan and the Verakhs were supposed to spring a trap upon the Ereian left flank but they were never given the chance to do so. The Ereian left flank refused to advance forward in the previous battle and opted attacking from a distance rather than engaging in melee combat.

"No riders from our side were killed but a few unlucky ones got injured during the chase. Well, according to what they had told him, there were only eleven of those unlucky ones," Haguk shrugged his shoulders. He didn't even bother to open the scroll that was carefully written by one of his subordinates in making his report.

"The perfect rumble, that was what we did," Dhug'mhar declared with a proud smile.

"Here it comes," Haguk resigned in helplessness as his friend's illness began acting up again, flexing his muscles while muttering words of self-praise on how perfect he was.

The report of Dhug'mhar resulted in Khao'khen to raise an eyebrow. "Perfect rumble, meaning?" he questioned with no clear emotion in his face. His expressionless look seemed to have cured Dhug'mhar's illness as he gave out a cough.

"No casualties and no wounded chief," he quickly cleared it up, to which the chieftain just nodded his head in acknowledgement to his report.

Khao'khen then directed his gaze towards Zaraki who had more than two scrolls on his hands. Unfurling the first one, he began his report. "In the recent battle, our side suffered more than five thousand casualties with more than seven thousand wounded with varying degrees.

Of the number of the wounded, two thousands of them suffered far serious wounds than the others that deemed them unfit for combat. A bit over a hundred of them need a few months to make a full recovery while the others needed between a few days to a few weeks of rest. The only exception was the three thousands of them who could join the next upcoming battle without any trouble."

Zaraki gave out one deep sigh after finishing his report. He didn't expect them to suffer such numbers of casualties but what was done is done. There was no way for them to turn back time. He thought that he could protect many of them with his command but there was nothing he could do against the chaos of battle.

Khao'khen nodded his head in acknowledgement then asked, "So, how we proceed. I am open to all suggestions," he declared.

"Let's just go and charge them in one fell swoop," Dhug'mhar quickly suggested. His voice was filled with confidence as he spoke.

"We should carefully advance forward. We need to observe the enemy movements more and create a plan based on what we see. Who knows that the enemy might have something up their sleeve that they haven't revealed to us yet," Zaraki suggested. His approach was the more cautious side.

A few made some suggestions while other just listened in the conversation. On the side of the orcs, they suggest the most direct and quick way to end the fight. Charge their enemies and cut them all down while Zaraki and Adhalia recommended the more cautious path.

After listening to all their suggestions. Khao'khen needed some time to come up with a decision. He needs to carefully consider everything before making a move.

From what he had observed, the enemy commander was unlike those who he has encountered before. He handles the army under his command in a very different manner than those who he had fought against with previously. His arrangements of their battle line were different, his way of deploying certain units of his army. Everything was way too different.

Who knows that the enemy commander might be better than him. He do considers himself as an excellent commander, but that was when it comes to modern times with modern weapons. In this world, his excellent commanding capability was rendered almost useless with the current circumstances.

Khao'khen was somewhat thankful that the first soldiers that he had to command were of high quality. Powerful bodies, high stamina and unafraid of death. They were the ideal soldiers for any commander. He considers the orcs as perfect soldiers. They were just raw and needed training. The only downside was that, they wouldn't listen to anybody who they consider to be weaker than them.

He was quiet lucky that none of them were trained in formal combat techniques or else he would be the one kissing the ground during the times that he was challenged by one of them.

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