Rise of the Horde

Chapter 142: Chapter 14

A few moments passed and the goblins still didn’t come out in the open, but they were moving in enormous groups. They were finding better positions to launch their assault, but all their movements were noticed by Xiao Chen as the tall grasses and bushes swayed without a passing wind.

“Prepare for engagement!” Xiao Chen shouted as he led his warriors further away. He grabbed a good defensive area. Their backs was the Teka’rr Mountains, and he had his warriors form a triangle like formation with the Rakshas at the forefront.

The five hundred Rakshas formed the first line as they form a fifty orc line and ten orc deep. The six hundred Yurakks divided themselves into two equal groups as they hang a few feet away from the Rakshas. The trolls were at the rearmost in between the two groups of Yurakks as they prepared their javelins to rain down pain on any fool who would show up first.

One solid defensive line at the center by the Rakshas, two lines at the left and right a few feet further behind and in the rear were the trolls. Xiao Chen nodded his head in approval, it seemed that his warriors know some basic defensive formations that are suited for their current numbers.

They patiently waited for the goblins to show themselves and come out in the open. Xiao Chen had his troops moved further away from the hiding places of their possible hostile neighbors for him to have enough time to have a more accurate estimation of their numbers.

Shrieks came in as thousands of goblins came out and formed a very long but thin line. On their hands were crude looking bows, but no matter how primitive their weapons look, it would still deal lethal wounds if left unchecked.

“Trolls move forward by the flanks, hurl three volleys, then retreat back. We will fire the first shot!” Xiao Chen bellowed. “Got ya, mon!” the leader of the trolls answered as they split into two groups. They swung behind the Yurakks before moving forward while sprinting.

.....

The goblin archers were still trying to form their line and getting in place to have their targets in their range when eight hundred trolls came storming forward. They halted in their tracks while waiting for their allies to come forward. Thinking that the trolls would engage them in the melee, they waited for their kin to come forward and shield them. Goblins wielding clubs, staves, swords, small axes and even hammers. They are equipped with different weapons and most of them only wear animal skins as armors, while there were a few of them who wore mismatched pieces of leather and metal armors; they don’t account for anything worthy of attention.

The goblin archers hang back while thousands of their kin moved forward to ward off the likely possible assault of the trolls and they started being tightly packed together, which was a huge mistake on their part. They are now great targets for the trolls as they hurled their first volley which fell down upon many of the goblins who were huddled together.

The second volley of javelins came and when they were about to release their third, short arrows rained down on them. The arrows of the goblins were not to be underestimated, as they would still be lethal if they landed on the right spot. Howls and grunts of pain sounded among the ranks of the trolls as some of the goblin arrows found their mark. Lucky for the trolls, they were wearing leather armors, which gave them some sort of protection, albeit minimally.

Hurling their last volley, the trolls retreated as fast as they came and headed where they were originally positioned at as arrows chased down their asses.

“Mi ass! Damn yuh likkle bastards!” a troll shouted in pain as two arrows were embedded on his butt. He grabbed the shaft of the arrows and snapped them while sprinting away to safety.

“It seems they know how to engage in battles...” Xiao Chen muttered as he stared at the goblins with a serious gaze who were now reforming their ranks with the goblin archers at the forefront. He can’t risk having many of his warriors injured in the first encounter since it would force him to turn back and delay his plans.

“Should I torch them!?” Draegh’ana muttered as she glanced at Xiao Chen. “Or should I call Kaprihkhorn out and Akwilah to cause some chaos!? she continued. Xiao Chen shook his head. “Not this time. We can’t risk showing them all of our cards. We need to have something hidden to catch them by surprise. This is a big tribe of goblins and I am sure that this battle won’t be the last that will fight against them.” he muttered as he observed the movements of the goblins.

“Yurakks! Move forward in Torhterra Formation! Waste their arrows!” he shouted. Huddling together, the two groups of Yurakks walked forward as they went into their formation. Shields overlapping at the front and above, they formed a shield fortress that is protected on all sides by their shields with only small gaps that could barely allow them to see where they are going. Moving in such formation will test how well they work together, since if even a single one of them makes a mistake, then more mistakes would follow.

The goblin archers shot their arrows in a high arc and rained them down upon the Yurakks, who were marching forward. Arrows ricocheted on the shields of the Yurakks as they moved forward, the small gaps were sealed as they heard the whistling sound of the arrows coming for them.

The Yurakks marched forward steadily as a volley of arrows kept on raining on when which did no damage at all except for slowing down their march. The goblin archers started moving backwards as the Yurakks crept closer and closer to their lines, which was too close for comfort for them.

The Rakshas stomped their foot in annoyance as they can’t participate in the battle since they weren’t really effective in such a kind of battle where missiles are raining down on them. Their ranks would be destroyed and casualties would pile up before they would even reach their foes. Heavily armored they might be, they are no idiots to storm through a rain of arrows. If it was before, they might have done it already, but after going through training, they had a better understanding of how battles should be fought.