Chapter 106: Lifting the Siege

(This chapter spends some space introducing Trolls and Infantry Regiments.)

While the melee units blocked the valley entrance, preparing to "shut the door and beat the dog," the ranged units remaining on the ridge did not rest. They began to attack those attempting to climb the mountain to escape with free-fire volleys.

As the battle progressed, when the Manticore Slayer Rogov blocked a Night Goblin Shaman who had thrown away his staff and was trying to escape disguised as an ordinary Night Goblin, and swung his Battle Axe to cleave him in two, Sinuoli knew these little runts had completely lost the power to resist.

"Arrange the pursuit and clean up the battlefield!" Sinuoli climbed down from his Rock Sheep after finally striking the Rune of Wrath and Ruin to disintegrate a group of Night Goblins attempting a desperate resistance, and he instructed Captain Gelunsen.

"Have the caravan find a place to set up camp; we will rest for the night and continue our journey tomorrow. Karak-Azgalaz is the true destination, and there may be a great battle waiting for us there!"

Sinuoli ordered Tomi. Having experienced a series of small-scale clearing operations along the way, Sinuoli had become much more steady; he was no longer excited by a minor victory.

"What should I put this skill point into?" Sinuoli discovered that the experience he had accumulated from the small victories along the way had allowed him to level up.

He began to ponder. Currently, his ultimate skill, Avatar of the Gods, was still in a locked state; based on his experience playing Warcraft in his past life, he speculated that he should be able to add points to it upon reaching level six.

Right now, his choices were to put another point into Storm Hammer, or to unlock Thunder Strike or Heavy Strike.

Among these three skills, the one Sinuoli looked down upon the most was the passive effect of Heavy Strike. At level one, it only had a twenty percent chance to cause extra damage and stun.

Sinuoli did not have the confidence to play the "little prince of dizziness-hammers" like Dan Zong from his past life. If he fought for a long time and it didn't trigger even once, he would have nowhere to cry.

Considering that the main opponents ahead were Goblins, who were large in number but poor in quality, the point-control provided by a level one Storm Hammer was sufficient. Sinuoli decided to unlock Thunder Strike; although he already had the Rune of Wrath and Ruin, one could never have too much area damage and crowd control.

Thinking as he walked toward the gate of Sanglake Castle, he saw several Troll corpses at the foot of the wall. These fellows were about the same height as the Ogre bartender he had seen at Karak-Hern, though that was the only similarity between the two.

Trolls are pure products of Chaos. It is generally believed that they, like Hippogryphs and Manticores, are mutated species born when the polar portals collapsed and Chaos energy surged out. On this point alone, they could not compare to the authentic creations of the Old Ones—the Ogres.

Trolls seem to have a tiny bit of intelligence, though this is only in comparison to Giants; compared to any sentient being, they are undoubtedly stupid.

Trolls live in groups. They use crude blunt weapons—such as tree trunks and clubs—and their own vomit as weapons. Trolls are often half-tricked and half-driven into battle by Chaos Warlords or Greenskins.

As a simple-minded creature with an arbitrary and disordered omnivorous appetite, everything is edible to a Troll.

This is thanks to the very powerful digestive juices contained in their stomachs. Trolls will spray semi-liquid bile and semi-digested food at their targets, corroding their armor and burning their flesh. This is truly an extremely disgusting way to die.

Perhaps the most well-known feature of Trolls is their ability to rapidly heal their skin; their rate of recovery can almost keep up with the rate at which they take damage.

If one wants to stop a Troll and make it unable to regenerate or move, one must inflict a massive amount of damage on it all at once. However, even then, it is possible that after a few days, the Troll will still heal and recover.

The only thing that prevents a Troll from regenerating is fire; burning them to death is the only reliable way to kill a Troll.

The current Troll corpses all had huge holes gouged out of their upper bodies, killed in a single blow. Otherwise, with the powerful fists and crude, massive weapons of these fellows, the thin stone walls of Sanglake Castle would have been hard-pressed to hold out until Sinuoli's arrival.

Surrounded by his Anvil Guard, Sinuoli entered the castle. He knew there would be some gains here.

Entering the walls, Sinuoli found the streets crowded with shabbily dressed peasants. They must have been living in nearby villages and fled to the lord's castle for refuge after discovering the Greenskin invasion.

Sinuoli also saw several medics bandaging and treating the wounded. He noticed that some of the wounded were wearing decent armor, which distinguished them from the peasants who went to the battlefield in nothing but cloth clothes.

"Respected Longbeard elder, thank you for your generous help!" A voice rang out in front of Sinuoli. Sinuoli saw that it was a handsome young man with golden hair.

"These people are our castle's Infantry Regiment! They are all great fellows, and the two who fought most bravely will be promoted to Mounted Squires later!" the young man introduced, and Sinuoli nodded upon hearing this.

"Let's go this way. My father was injured earlier, but it was just brought under control by the medicinal herbs of the Asrai, though he still cannot come out to greet you!" The young man made a gesture of invitation.

"Small matter, small matter! Speaking of which, do our Bretonnia lords also organize formal infantry units? I thought they only conscripted peasants when there was a need."

Walking in the castle courtyard, Sinuoli asked. In his memory, his impression of Bretonnia was only of various types of cavalry and a large number of old peasants.

"That is natural. Peasants are often untrained and are of little use!" The young Knight noble curled his lip; it was clear he looked down upon the peasants.

"Every Knight needs a group of infantry, whether he is a lord with only one village or the Knight King himself!" the young man explained.

"When war breaks out, they must hold off the enemy until we find a suitable moment to charge. When there are no military operations, these people perform routine tasks for the lord, such as monitoring the borders of their territory or capturing bandits and the like!"

Sinuoli could tell that this young man was recently studying the theoretical knowledge of commanding battles; there was a flavor of "armchair strategy" in his words.

"Every year at midsummer, after the sowing is finished, the peasants from the surrounding areas come to our castle in groups to be inspected and selected by the squires. Those who are strong and loyal enough will earn the right to join the Infantry Regiment, carrying equipment bearing our family crest, and fight for my father!"

In the young Knight's words, it was as if this were a favor. Sinuoli knew that life as a professional soldier was undoubtedly better than farming. Of course, this was not because the military pay was good, but because the life of a peasant was simply too poor!

Thanks to book friends Huanghuangban a, Super Conqueror, 99 Radish 66, Heren Mo Xiangyi, and Zima's Flower Bride for the monthly tickets.