Chapter 423: The Battle of Linding City Begins!

"There are orcs lying in wait inside the city?! This…"

When Adams finished reading the contents of the letter, he froze solid.

Because the news in the letter was utterly shocking to him.

In the latter half of the letter, Gervas said that a elite force of orcs was secretly hidden within Linding City!

They had evaded the kingdom's army's search and slipped in silently.

Then, tonight at nightfall, they would coordinate with the orcish main force outside to launch a deadly strike against the kingdom's army.

This news was earth-shattering.

If the letter had not been written by Gervas to him, Adams would have immediately screamed "Madman!"

Does he think I'm an idiot?

When the kingdom's army first occupied Linding City, I was the commander of the thorough search.

It was a task arranged by my father specifically to train me.

So I knew better than anyone that Linding City had been turned upside down by the kingdom's army—there could be no enemy left hidden.

But now this news came from Gervas.

Even if I had personally inspected every corner, I would still believe Gervas without question.

Thinking of this, Adams's breathing grew rapid and shallow.

Last time's great victory at Greyrock Bridge had already earned him unprecedented honor.

If this time, he truly could help the kingdom's army recover from its losses,

This achievement would be no smaller than ten Greyrock Bridges.

Of course, everything depended on the arrival of night!

…

Ooooh!

The sun rose in the east, its rays spilling across the land; flowers and grass drank the morning dew, birds sang from the branches—a scene full of vitality.

Ooooh!

At that moment, a sharp horn blast rose abruptly, shattering the peace.

Instantly, Linding City plunged into tension.

The orcish main force had finally arrived!

Seeing the dense ranks of orcs emerging on the horizon, even with the high morale built from previous victories,

The kingdom's soldiers still felt a crushing sense of suffocation.

The orcs' oppressive force was simply too overwhelming.

"Roar! One Grand Marshal, two human dukes—looks like the Old Griffon King still takes our orcish southern hunt very seriously!"

To the orcs, humans were two-legged sheep, so their southern raids were no different than southern hunts.

The Orc King, surrounded by his guards, slowly appeared beyond the city walls.

"Orc King, you orcs refuse to till the soil and feed yourselves—every year you invade our Griffon Kingdom's northern border!"

"It's the most despicable, cowardly act—don't you fear the day when our humans will utterly settle the score with you?"

"Hah! Grand Marshal, settle the score? If your two-legged sheep could do it, wouldn't you have done it long ago?"

"Besides, I've heard your nobles live in luxury by exploiting your own kind—the so-called serfs, your two-legged sheep!"

"So we're no different—you and we both survive by plunder!"

"Of course, the world is ruled by the strong, the weak are slaves—so neither your nobles nor our orcish kind are wrong!"

"The weak should be meat, should be servants!" the Orc King laughed.

Admittedly, though the orcs' actions were despicable, the Orc King's words—while absurd—somehow carried a twisted logic.

After all, nobles did indeed live luxuriously by oppressing serfs.

But this was war—not a debate.

The Grand Marshal could not let the Orc King's words undermine his army's morale: "Orc King, you speak nothing but nonsense!"

"Serfs produce, nobles arm—without our knightly nobles, our human race would have been wiped out long ago by your predatory barbarians!"

"Now, I represent the great Griffon King, Your Majesty, to give you one final warning: withdraw all your orcs from Griffon Kingdom territory immediately!"

"Otherwise, you will suffer a terrible fate!"

"Hah! You want us to withdraw from the Griffon Kingdom? Then see if your two-legged sheep have the strength to make us!"

"Orc warriors, prepare for battle—break Linding City, tear this army of two-legged sheep to shreds!"

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Ooooh!

The pre-battle taunts ended; with the Orc King's command, the orcish army sounded the attack horn.

The next instant, the vassal troops formed ranks and charged toward Linding City.

"Kingdom's heroes, today, fight for our kingdom, fight for our honor!"

"Slaughter these despicable orcs, drive them from our land!"

"For honor! Kill!"

Ooooh!

Instantly, battle cries erupted from within and without the walls!

Outside the city, vast hordes of vassal troops carried siege equipment and rushed the walls without regard for their lives.

Inside the city, the five trebuchets, long ready, launched their first salvos.

Yet, against the dense masses of vassal troops, the trebuchets were clearly like a drop in the ocean.

Soon, the slave soldiers surged to the vicinity of the city wall.

Previously, there had been a moat outside Lindongcheng.

But after the orcs seized Lindongcheng, they ordered the moat filled in.

Although since yesterday, the royal army had dug some trenches and erected palisades.

Yet these were merely makeshift defenses, and under the relentless, death-defying assaults of the slave soldiers, they were quickly breached.

From then on, the slave soldiers reached the very base of the wall and began their swarm assault.

Of course, the battle awaiting them next would be even more brutal and bloody.

The royal army had long prepared stones, rolling logs, fire oil, and scalding gold juice.

In short, although the slave soldiers' assault was fierce, it could not exert much pressure on the royal army, which was thoroughly prepared.

Time passed second by second; the great battle lasted from morning until dusk.

During this time, both sides employed a rotation system to prevent their soldiers from being exhausted.

Of course, since the attackers lacked numerical superiority, and the Orc King was still unwilling to commit the true battle-beasts—Berserker orcs—to combat.

Thus, for the royal army, the defenders, today's battle had been remarkably easy.

Watching the slave soldiers being crushed off the wall, every soldier of the royal army believed the day's battle was unfolding exactly as they hoped.

Carrying this optimism, as night fell.

Even though the orcs' assault continued, many nobles could not resist beginning to drink heartily.

According to tradition, drinking was strictly forbidden during active combat.

But this time, Lindongcheng stood impregnable, with virtually no risk to worry about, so the nobles disregarded this rule.

Amid the nobles' revelry, time quickly reached midnight.

Exhausted from battle and the day's drinking and feasting, the nobles finally could no longer stay awake and prepared to rest.

Only one-fifth of the nobles were assigned night watch duty.

"Adams, tonight we Marquis Marquis Aosiding family have no night watch duty—why aren't you sleeping?"

Lord Marquis Marquis Aosiding had also drunk several cups with several high nobles today.

Returning to camp, he was surprised to find his eldest son still awake.

"Father, I can't sleep. I want to ask you to grant me command of the eight thousand family soldiers!"

Lord Marquis Marquis Aosiding's drowsy gaze froze; the next moment, his eyes widened, "Adams, what did you say?"