Rise of the Horde

Chapter 30

After exploring the backyard of the tribe and ensuring that no enemy can surprise them from behind, Xiao Chen came back along with the goblin cook, Grogus. Seeing the tall wooden walls of the tribe, Grogus can’t help but gulp a mouthful of saliva thinking that he had no chance of escaping his fate of being a captive.

Xiao Chen went back to check on the progress of the Yohan First Battalion after being ensured that the little goblin Grogus was being closely watch. The still unhappy Aro’shanna gladly took the role of being the full-time warden of Grogus, her face clearly shows her great anticipation for the goblin to try anything suspicious and attempt to escape so that she can have her way with him.

A foolish smile was plastered on her face, an expectant look was in her eyes and the itching of her hands caressing her weapon satisfied Xiao Chen. Glancing at Grogus, Xiao Chen can’t help but pity the little goblin and engraved in his mind not to antagonize Aro’shanna for she keeps grudges quiet deeply.

*****

After noticing Xiao Chen’s presence in the training ground, Xor’tharr ordered his men to play a tune to signal the Yohan First Battalion of the chief’s presence.

Quick successive twelve beats of the war drums first sounded then three short blast of battle horns echoed, then the loud sound of the slow beating war drums and long battle horn sounds filled the training grounds.

“Inspection Line!”

Sakh’arran loudly bellowed then re-echoed by all platoon commanders and the Yohan First Battalion slowly assembled in formation. Thirteen-man frontage and twelve men deep, marching vertically passing by Xiao Chen’s location.

.....

The first to pass by was the Black Tortoise group, the first platoon commanded by Sakh’arran then the second by Galum’nor. The Azure Dragon group, the White Tiger group and the Vermilion Bird group soon followed.

The warriors of Yohan marched totally in sync, their legs rising and moving forward before falling down at the exact same moment. Their thirteen-man frontage stayed in a true straight line.

After passing by Xiao Chen’s location, the Yohan warriors circled around then formed in one long horizontal line, their default battle line. Xiao Chen came forward to have a closer look at his warriors.

The Yohan warriors were in great shape, their muscular bodies became more toned, their stamina improved and they became more stronger and tougher than before.

It was nearly dusk and the still energetic look of his soldiers proved that the harsh daily training did its job. Previously, by this time his men would look like they were about to drop down any second, their backs slouch and their gaze unfocused but now it was like they can still go on without much problem.

Pacing around with a satisfied smile on his face, Xiao Chen glanced at his commanders and warriors who had a proud smile on their faces. Standing at the front and center of his army, Xiao Chen nodded with satisfaction on the progress of the Yohan First Battalion.

“All main group commanders! Front and center”

Xiao Chen loudly announced, Sakh’arran, Trot’thar, Gur’kan and Drae’ghanna moved forward towards Xiao Chen, marching with steady and disciplined posture. They moved forward till just a few paces away from the imaginary line in front of Xiao Chen before making a sharp ninety degree turn then continued. The four of them met at the center, Sakh’arran and Trot’thar facing towards Gur’kan and Drae’ghanna while the latter two were also facing them, then at the exact same time they turned towards Xiao Chen and saluted at the same time by thumping their right closed fist to their left chest.

Satisfied with the actions of his commanders, Xiao Chen answered their salute in the same manner before giving them a nod of approval.

“The next three days, the Yohan warriors will have minimal training and can relaxed a bit. After three days, they will be trained on how to fight in the battlefield”

Xiao Chen said towards his commanders before leaving with a smile on his face and headed towards the craftsmen of the tribe to enquire about the status of the new equipment that he had requested.

After the chief left, Gur’kan turned around and faced the Yohan First Battalion and loudly bellowed

“You heard the chief, three days off! You lucky bastards!”

“Awooh.... awooh... awooh”

The Yohan First Battalion cheerfully replied and started jumping around while the others heaved a sigh of relief and massaged their sore muscles. The continuous and monotonous harsh daily trainings had taken a toll on their bodies but they can’t help but caressed their now well-toned muscles with a smile blooming on their lips.

*****

In the distance Adhalia was greatly in awe on how well organized the orcs trained, their training routine was extremely foreign to her. Training arduously every single day, even the Ereian Royal Guards didn’t do it nor does she know of any army, training as intense as Xiao Chen’s army does.

But she was deeply puzzled, their training only improved their bodies and she didn’t witness anything related to actual battle like striking targets with swords and spears like how knights practice their battle skills. She wanted to be totally sure that Xiao Chen’s army are truly capable of aiding her, in her quest for vengeance before fully committing herself in working for the chief.

Unbeknownst to her, an orc was also observing her from a distance while she observes the training of the Yohan First Battalion. Xiao Chen might have given her freedom to move around the tribe but just for security measures, he needed to keep a close eye on her since according to the system Adhalia’s trust rating on him was too damn low which is at a miniscule 20%.

And the system advised him to keep a close eye on her since she is more likely to not keep her words and just flee.

*****

“How is the progress of my request?”

Xiao Chen questioned the lead craftsman of the Yohan Tribe upon arriving at their workplace. Spears and shields were neatly arranged on one side while raw materials were on the other side.

Xiao Chen had requested for a shorter but more durable spear since the sarissa-like spears were more susceptible to break after encountering a tougher target like the skins of the ogres. The long wooden shafts bent and broke after not being able to penetrate the ogre’s more resilient skin which is why Xiao Chen wanted the new shorter spears to be entirely made out of iron.

“We have a thousand of the stabbing swords that you requested, chief. We were only able to make seven hundred of the pure iron spears that you requested since we don’t have enough materials to make more. The new shields, we have plenty of them, twice more than the number of that of the Yohan First Battalion since they will surely need replacement after a tough battle”

Zul’jinn the lead craftsman reported to Xiao Chen while ushering him forward with his hands to come closer and take a closer look and inspect the new equipment.

The circular-shaped shields will now be replaced with large rectangular shields with the edges curved and not sharp, the new shields were made of three layers of wood glued together and covered with coarse canvas and tough leather to prevent it from easily being fractured and destroyed, at the center most front of the shield was a square-shaped metal plate with a metal boss on the front and on the back had four spikes on its four corners. The spikes were then inserted in the three-layered wooden shield and tightly bent at the back to help secure the layers together.

The new shield had a height of five feet with a width of three and half feet which could fully cover even the giant Galum’nor behind it after crouching down. Xiao Chen didn’t want to fully abandon the phalanx formation since it is a very effective formation but the formation moved like a snail and he wanted his army to be mobile and flexible to be able to respond quickly.

The phalanx was a great formation hence his request for the shorter but more durable spears. He wants the backbone of his army’s battle line to be the spear wielders in a semi phalanx formation, who will be able to hold off enemy attacks while his sword wielding warriors will flank the engaged enemies.

The outcome of future battles, Xiao Chen had already imagined it in his mind. His spear wielding warriors, kneeling down, the huge shields in front of them, the butt end of their more durable spears planted on the ground and bracing for impact and the sword wielders circle around in a pincer attack and fell the enemies from the flanks while they are busy trying to get through the shield and spear formation in front of them.

The sword wielders will be more mobile and can kill more enemies before they can retreat. They can also give chased to routed enemies unlike those in the phalanx formation who must at all times stay within their formation.