[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence":3,"chapter-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-397":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Warlord: Starting with Daily Intelligence",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2338860,4572,"Chapter 397: Wild Wolf Knights!","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-397",397,"\u003Cp>Amidst shouts of battle, dozens of simple wooden rafts were cast into the river, and the serf soldiers rushed forward one after another to leap onto them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each raft could carry about ten soldiers; over three days, the royal army had prepared more than three hundred rafts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, three thousand soldiers could be transported across in a single wave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, the first batch of serf soldiers would bear nearly all the beastmen’s attacks, making them the most brutal casualties of today’s battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Barely had the three thousand landed when the beastmen’s slave army surged forward like wolves and tigers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A dark mass of thirty thousand overwhelmed the three thousand outright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rafts had already been rowed back to the river’s center; they had nowhere to hide, only grit their teeth and fight the charging beastmen slaves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One round trip of a raft took only three minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, the second batch of serf soldiers arrived on the rafts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet in those mere three or four minutes, only one-third of the first three thousand landing serfs remained alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rest had become corpses; the once emerald river was stained red with blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Faced with this, the nobles didn’t even blink.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For this was war—victory always demanded sacrifice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second batch of serfs fared no better; by the time the third batch arrived, they too had lost over half their numbers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then came the fourth, fifth... until after the tenth batch had crossed, the serf forces finally held a foothold on the far shore, no longer being driven back into the river.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, the casualties were enormous: in less than an hour, the thirty-thousand-strong force had lost at least five to six thousand serfs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good! They’ve finally secured the shore!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes! Now the assault will be much easier!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the nobles still showed no concern for the losses; instead, they smiled with relief now that the foothold was secured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially the later batches of nobles— the more advantage the front gained, the fewer casualties they would suffer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Second wave, advance!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Securing the shore was merely the beginning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, the commander-in-chief issued another order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wooooo!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the blaring horns, the second wave of noble troops charged toward the riverbank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The second wave has entered the fray! Can they defeat the beastmen?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes! If they can, it would be perfect for us!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I think they’ve got a chance—sixty thousand against forty thousand. Even if ten thousand are beastmen, their slave troops are pitifully weak, weaker even than the serfs!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the second noble wave began to land, the third wave of nobles chattered among themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most of them, like Mil and others before, had merely come to fulfill conscription obligations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They sought no glory, only to minimize the deaths of their own men.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So all hoped the beastmen could be defeated without their own forces having to cross.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And as they spoke, the situation seemed to be turning in their favor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the second wave of thirty thousand troops landed, the beastmen slave army began slowly retreating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Gervas, looks like we won’t get any glory this time!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Damn, what a shame—I was hoping to take a few beastmen heads!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mil, Ian, and the others looked as if they’d lost a fortune, making Gervas want to punch them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, those fools didn’t realize they were mourning too soon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For according to the only useful intelligence from this morning:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This group of beastmen had a cavalry unit of several dozen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though none had ever seen beastman cavalry firsthand, Gervas knew their reputation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlike human cavalry, beastmen rode enormous snowplain gray wolves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These snowplain wolves were tier-one beasts—modest in strength, but their size was ideal: over four meters long, they could carry tall beastmen into battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, these formidable beastman cavalry could often defeat far larger numbers of human cavalry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And since they hadn’t appeared yet, the battlefield still held surprises.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And indeed, just as the tide of battle began tilting toward the humans:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A horn blast suddenly came from the enemy side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s going on?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The nobles were utterly baffled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the beastmen’s horn blast was an attack signal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But they were clearly retreating—why issue an attack order now?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Roar! Roar! Roar!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Look! What’s that?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The nobles’ confusion was quickly resolved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No! It’s the beastmen’s wild wolf knights!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Damn it! These beastmen hid wild wolf knights!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, are wild wolf knights that powerful? They don’t even seem numerous!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course they are—each wild wolf knight equals five elite light cavalrymen; fifty of them equal over two hundred and fifty light cavalry!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Our cavalry is blocked by the Pearl River and can’t reinforce—imagine what happens when three thousand serfs face over two hundred cavalry!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This...” Some nobles unfamiliar with the northern frontier turned pale at this explanation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two hundred elite light cavalry, under normal circumstances, could be handled by any marquis or duke’s force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the stone bridge was blocked—only serfs could reach the far shore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And serf soldiers, despite their numbers, were unpredictable in battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Roar! Kill all these two-legged sheep!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Roar! Roar! Roar!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the nobles felt dread rising, the wild wolf knights charged onto the battlefield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid bone-chilling roars, they plunged into the serf ranks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What followed was like wolves among sheep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wherever they charged, serfs scattered in panic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even those who tried to resist were swiftly crushed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though strict military law kept the serfs from total collapse, their earlier advantage vanished completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were being pushed back toward the riverbank once more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Damn it!” The Northern Legion’s commander-in-chief turned livid at the sight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two dukes also wore grim expressions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We must open the stone bridge passage quickly!” Duke Hernade suddenly spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But the cost would be too high—there are two thousand beastmen guarding it. To break through head-on, we’d lose at least double that in elite guards!” The commander-in-chief’s face darkened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The “elite” he meant weren’t the guards of petty nobles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were fully armed Northern Legion soldiers and elite guards of the ducal families.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We have no choice! If we don’t open the bridge and let cavalry cross to help, the serf force will collapse!” Hernade declared firmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The commander-in-chief’s expression shifted again and again—if sixty thousand troops broke, casualties would be catastrophic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that meant defeat in this great battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Northern Commander, half my men and those of the marquises and above will join your Northern Legion’s half—attack now!” Hernade urged again as the commander hesitated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With Hernade’s words thus spoken, the Northern Legion commander no longer hesitated. “Fine! Duke Hernade, let’s open the passage!”\u003C\u002Fp>",1087,"2026-06-20T22:44:02.338Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","d352d58c299a3dafc3bb4334341a38b7da8c768f68f5698446e16a29d0753727","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-398","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-396",521,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwarlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-cover.jpg"]