Green Monster Epic

Chapter 746: Epilogue

Observing the front lines through the eyes of magic, watching brave goblin warriors charging, fighting, and falling, the dwarf goblin commander Pablo was filled with worry and his heart ached.

Each fallen goblin warrior meant one less breadwinner in the tribe, a family losing its pillar of support, and also signified the tribe's decades of effort invested in these goblins going to waste.

"Teacher, is it meaningless to continue charging like this? Why not sound the retreat, reorganize, and then let Fisher and the main force launch an attack?"

The strength of the elven army was indeed far greater than the Greenwild's hastily organized army. Even though Albard seized the opportunity when the enemy retreated to reorganize their lines and sent reserve warriors to charge their position, it only caused some chaos in the elven lines, but it was still far from a true collapse.

And the price paid by the goblin legion was nearly a thousand casualties, staining the grassland outside Makema Slope town black.

Unable to bear it any longer, Pablo finally voiced his suggestion to the cold-blooded Albard. In Pablo's view, his teacher's current command was no different from sending goblins to their deaths.

"Or, it would be better to have the re-organized troops in the town re-emerge to provide support..."

Albard glanced back at Pablo, his icy gaze immediately causing Pablo to swallow the rest of his words. Then, Albard said in a nonchalant tone, "This is war, not your usual child's play of arranging troops on paper."

"To achieve victory, necessary sacrifices are inevitable. You only see the losses of the goblin warriors on the front lines, but you don't see the glimmer of hope for victory that their sacrifices have earned us."

"The overall strength of the elven legion far exceeds that of our Greenwild army. If we were to engage them head-on, despite our numerical advantage, the only possible outcome would be our defeat."

"Initially, I allowed Makema Slope to be attacked by the elven legion without rushing to send reinforcements. This was to use the defending tribesmen of Makema Slope to exhaust the elves' high morale. Taking advantage of their rush into the town and their melee with our warriors, which temporarily disrupted their lines, we suddenly attacked and quickly launched a counterattack. This is how we achieved the result of repelling the elves and forcing them to withdraw from Makema Slope."

"However, if we allow the elven legion to regroup, then the initiative, whether for attacking or retreating, will return to their hands."

"Therefore, if we want to achieve victory, to completely defeat the elven legion and drive them out of the Greenwild Plains, we must never allow their legion to restore its complete battle formation. Only by disrupting the elves' plan to reorganize their defenses at all costs can we rely on our tribe's advantage in the number of warriors and morale to achieve that faint glimmer of victory!"

"As long as we can break through the elven legion's lines, even if the reserve army fighting now suffers more than half its losses, it will be worth it."

"And the main force that is reorganizing in the town is what I have prepared to defend against the next wave of elven retreat. We must not use them now!"

"Do you understand?"

Albard had at least experienced relatively large-scale wars such as the drow invasion of Nasir Fortress, so he had a certain understanding of the cruelty of war. On the other hand, the goblins of Pablo's generation had grown up under the protection of powerful tribal forces. The most cruel things they had experienced were perhaps the killings and betrayals encountered during their early adventures.

Therefore, Albard was not pleased with Pablo's sudden emergence of pity, but he could understand it. At this time, he patiently explained the reasons for his arrangement, wanting to take this opportunity to make Pablo and the goblin commanders of his generation understand the cruelty of war and nature.

As a command talent cultivated by the tribe, if a large-scale war were to break out again in the future, Pablo's current mentality would definitely put the tribe in a critical situation, needlessly increasing casualties among the tribesmen.

This war was also a kind of tempering and test. If Pablo still couldn't adjust his mentality and understand the key points, then Albard would suggest to Allen to cultivate new command talents.

Of course, this war also revealed problems in the tribe's command talent cultivation system, and there would be ways to specifically correct these problems in the future.

"...I..."

Pablo could understand the explanation given by his teacher, but it was still difficult for him to fully accept treating his close tribesmen as war pawns and actively sacrificing them.

"If you can't figure it out, then keep staring at the battlefield. Look at those fallen goblin warriors and think about what their sacrifices have gained!"

Albard sighed inwardly, then looked up sternly at Pablo and the dozen or so members of the staff behind him, saying, "Remember the current changes in the battle situation. After the war is over, everyone must write a summary report for me, with no less than 20,000 words!"

"Yes, sir!"

The elven legion's lines finally began to show chaos again. Although the number of reserve goblin troops was only several thousand, and their battle formation coordination was also sparse and ordinary, they had not participated in the battle before, and all their members' morale, stamina, and fighting spirit were at their peak. Under their fearless impact, Dosti, the commander of the elven legion, had to order the deer horn to be blown again.

"If you keep retreating like this, what will happen to our battalion?"

Omaha, the commander of the cavalry battalion, expressed his dissatisfaction to Dosti with a livid face. The melee of heavy cavalry was not like a phalanx of infantry, which could be easily withdrawn. Moreover, as long as Omaha issued an order to retreat, their cavalry battalion would hardly be able to make an effective counterattack, and they would likely be chased to the end by the opposing cavalry battalion.

"You can see our current situation. If we can't reorganize our lines and allow the enemy's rabble to disrupt our formation, then their main force, which has been reorganized in the town, will come out in full force and severely damage our corps!"

"This is the wilderness. We are going deep without reinforcements. If the main force suffers too many losses, not only will we be unable to cope with the Greenwild tribe's vengeful pursuit, but we will also be unable to face the pursuit of other wilderness forces in the vicinity who have heard the news."

"I am the commander of the infantry phalanx. I must first consider the lives of my eight thousand soldiers. As for your cavalry battalion, my personal suggestion is to withdraw as soon as possible while you can. We may be able to help cover your retreat."

"The only two active forces I can currently deploy are the three hundred spellcaster team and the one thousand seven hundred strong archers. If you're sure you're ready to retreat with us, I can send the spellcaster team to help you out. The rest is up to you."

Dusty came from an old family and had always looked down on Omaha and his father, who had risen from commoners to become new nobles. Furthermore, Omaha had borrowed his father's authority as commander of Thornsburg to lead the heavy cavalry brigade, a powerful force that Dusty's family had originally intended for him.

However, Mario was now the commander of Thornsburg Fortress. No matter how dissatisfied Dusty and his family were, they wouldn't show it. In normal times, Dusty would force a smile with Omaha, exchanging a few polite pleasantries. But now, seeing Omaha's exasperated face on the battlefield, Dusty felt a sense of contempt for him.

It wasn't that Dusty was taking advantage of this crisis to make things difficult for Omaha. Rather, he felt that Omaha himself didn't have enough talent or insight to perceive and judge the situation in time, and only knew how to get angry at his comrades. This was clearly a sign of incompetence.

"...Then you at least have to hold out until my cavalry brigade withdraws from the battle before you can retreat north."

Omaha's expression was uncertain. Although there was anger in his eyes, he couldn't vent it on the other party. After scanning the gradually collapsing defense line of the elven legion, he made a rational decision.

"I will rebuild the next line of defense half a mile away. If this line of defense can be consolidated, then my unit will hold out longer. But if the enemy continues to attack strongly, trying to break through my line of defense, then I will only hold out for half a magic hour at most, and then lead the main force to retreat further away."

Everyone was in the same boat at this point. If they really abandoned the heavy cavalry brigade and retreated, they would have to face Commander Mario's thunderous rage upon returning to the fortress. Moreover, if the heavy cavalry brigade was besieged by the goblin and barbarian cavalry and infantry, then the situation that his infantry regiment would have to face next would inevitably be dangerous.

"Understood!"

"I'm leaving!"

With a light squeeze of his legs on the mount's abdomen, the telepathically connected animal companion immediately responded. Its hind hooves scraped the grass, and then its retracted wings reopened. It slowly took off into the air while running, heading straight for the heavy cavalry battlefield that was still in a stalemate.

Even without a commander overseeing the situation, the powerful and proud elven cavalry warriors were able to maintain a stable battle situation. While still not returning to the battlefield, Omaha dodged the ranged attacks from the ground, while overlooking the fierce battle between the cavalry.

The cavalry in the central war zone were almost blocked to death in the front. Unless they died in battle and fell from their horses, they were basically unable to escape the core area. The sharp spears that were originally supposed to tear apart the battle formation now seemed somewhat weak due to the evenly matched strength of both sides. Apart from the hundreds of cavalry who were lost at the beginning, the other cavalry, due to wearing heavy armor, had lost their powerful impact force.

However, the battle line continued to extend to both sides. The cavalry on the flanks, who were not trapped in the quagmire, interspersed with each other in small teams, but often fell into a stalemate again in repeated impacts, and then cavalry teams launched charges from the flanks, again and again.

The battlefield, which was originally only half a mile wide, had expanded to nearly a mile again when Omaha left the core of the battle and went to the infantry formation to inquire about the movements of his colleagues.

The good news was that the redundant forces in the core area were dispersed, and the soldiers in the very center were finally no longer so crowded, and could have a little room to maneuver. But the bad news was that the battle line was too scattered. If the cavalry on both sides retreated first, then the soldiers still crowded in the central battlefield would likely be pincered by the enemy cavalry from both sides when they retreated, and ultimately pay a greater price to break through.

Omaha, who was calculating how to retreat in his mind, quickly beckoned to the flying cavalry hovering in the sky. A cavalry captain glided over, and after a brief exchange, Omaha swooped down and landed on the battlefield of his own army on the ground.

The Elven army's retreat again was not beyond Albad's expectations, but his brow furrowed even tighter. The loss of reserve reinforcements was indeed heavy. If the Elven army continued to retreat in an orderly manner several more times, there would really be no way for the army he brought to achieve the previously set plan.

However, this was reality. The seemingly powerful Greenwood Tribe faced such difficulty in dealing with a mere partial division of invading elves. It seemed that his previous judgment on the gap between the strengths of the two sides was still too optimistic.

But Albad did not regret it. At least the tens of thousands of livestock in Shepherd's Slope were saved, saving the tribe decades of redevelopment time. At the same time, this opportunity allowed the tribe's warriors and backbones to recognize the reality, and let these guys who were content with the status quo understand that threats exist at all times. This was also a rare lesson.

With less than three thousand goblin troops remaining, they were intercepted by hundreds of troops actively left behind by the elves. Seeing that the other side's main force was retreating again, Albad quickly gathered his mood and issued a cold command: "Beat the drums, let all the troops in the town attack!"

"Don't worry about that rearguard enemy army, let Fischer and the others bite down on the main force of the elves!"

"Still the previous goal, be sure to break up the line of defense that the Elven army is preparing to build!"

"Yes!"

Dong dong dong!!! Dong dong dong!!!

Fischer, who had rested for less than twenty minutes, had recovered from the weakness caused by the cooldown of the Frenzy skill. When the earth-shattering war drums sounded again, it was telling Fischer and the others that another great battle was about to break out.

"You bastards, give me some more effort. Today is a great opportunity for all of us to establish merit!"

"Follow in your old man's footsteps, don't fall behind!!!!"

Fischer picked up the broad, heavy sword at his feet, carried it on his shoulder, and laughed at his subordinates in a heroic manner.

After saying this, Fischer took the lead and rushed out. The heavy footsteps of clang clang clang came from the ears of everyone. Soon, everyone immediately set off, striding forward with heavy and powerful steps.

A group of goblin warriors around them actively made way for Fischer and the others, either echoing Fischer and the others' charge from both wings, or simply following behind them, burying their heads and running forward.

"Kill!"

"Die for me!"

"For my Greenwood Tribe!"

.........

The sky-filled war drums and shouts mixed into a symphony, but behind this music, there were lines of bloody bones.