Ambush III
Shay must act immediately. He flew toward the orcs, who broke through the formation and continue to advance. The orcs' breakthrough also had consequences for the other soldiers. Since they were no longer standing uniformly, the orcs were able to attack sideways again, widening the gap in the formation.
By the time Shay arrived, it was too late and too many orcs had eliminated the front line, making all the hard work over. Still, he continued to encourage the soldiers to hold firm. This was the only way to guarantee that they would be victorious. Shay jumped up from the air onto an orc and split it down the middle.
The orcs looking at Shay could only perceive how the two halves toppled over to the left and right, drenching the neighboring soldiers and Shay with blood. The orcs' rage was immediate and they all went on the attack. Shay shouted to the soldiers:
"Stand with me. Help me get these creatures out of this world once and for all! Do it for your lives, your family, and for your King Varian!"
Motivation increased dramatically and Shay led the soldiers against the orcs. Shay literally sprinted through his opponents. Meanwhile, he slashed the necks of some, and cut off limbs of others with his blade. If that happens, the orcs usually are unable to believe what has just happened and only a few seconds later realize that they are missing half an arm, from which blood is leaking until they bleed to death or die from the virus. While that may not be a pretty death, none of them felt sorry for Shay!
The soldiers and Shay tried to push the orcs out of the formation, but always with little success and high casualties on the human side. While the soldiers pushed, the men behind tried to impale the opponents with lances. This worked rather less, because the material of the lances was only wood except for the tip. So if the orcs paid a little attention to the attacks, they would simply destroy the weapons.
And if a lance ever hit, then one attack wasn't enough to take it down. Shay was lucky that he had ranged fighters who could support him. He was also lucky that some of them were armed with a pistol. These weapons were especially helpful when it came to killing. One well-placed shot and that was it for the enemy. Unlike bows or crossbows, which usually need several shots.
Unfortunately, Shay doesn't have access to mages or paladins in his squadron. These would also have a great influence on the course of events. The problem with using magic is the destruction it causes. Either you use spells that are too weak and don't kill the enemy, or you use strong spells and guarantee the kill, but risk the lives of others.
As good as it may sound, the worse is the reality. The permanent spells destroy the environment and make fighting more and more difficult. In addition, they are fighting in a forest where there are trees, which of course means that there will be forest fires. Shay personally didn't mind the temperature because the light in the sky is very warm, but for the soldiers it's pure hell!
These soldiers wear iron armor from top to bottom. This weight is already a big problem for them. They can give protection against arrows or sword blows, but against the strength of an orc...there it becomes rather a disadvantage, because the mobility decreases. And now, with the heat and all the smoke and soot added to the mix, Shay was glad not to be inside one of these people.
Shay noticed before that the soldiers found it difficult to fight under the armor. One sweated permanently and the body could not give off heat to circulate the temperature. But now that the fire also broke out and the flames and heat came closer and closer, many fainted. First they felt dizzy, then nauseous, and at some point the body simply can not withstand and collapses.
In addition, they were not allowed to inhale the smoke for too long, otherwise they would die in agony from carbon monoxide poisoning. Shay ordered the soldiers to take off their armor, even though it would weaken their defenses. Living soldiers are still better than dead soldiers. Many tore off their armor when they heard Shay's order.
Many of them were able to "breathe normally" for the first time in a long time and felt a small relief before the fight for life and death continued again. The soldiers and Shay, meanwhile, feel as if the fight is mainly here with them. This feeling comes from the large amount of orcs that can be seen everywhere. It was as if the orcs were closing them off from the outside world and only giving a fight between the soldiers plus Shay against the orcs.
....
A perspective from above shows that: the horde of soldiers in which Shay is. This whole mass consists of about 3700 soldiers at the moment. Around them you see for a long time only orcs, orcs and more orcs. Only after a radius of 120 meters you can see other soldiers of the humans fighting. If we were to estimate the number of casualties, the humans would have just under 40 thousand and the orcs would have 24 thousand.
This loss of soldiers is not good, since the real mission is still ahead, the attack on the outpost. It could be assumed that at least 20 thousand more people will die here if things continue as they are. If it drags on even more, then maybe double to triple the losses so far.
If you look at the distribution of people, you can see that all the squadrons have formed groups and are trying to act together. Some look a little better e.g. those who have mages, priests and paladins, like the squadrons around Varian, but there are also places where everyone can see that they are losing and will soon die.
The situation also shows that there is no way out that can be helpful to the people.The environment is covered in smoke, fires and flames. Wet ground prevents everyone from moving and corpses and blood cover the battlefield. The sky is covered in smoke and no sunlight has hit the soldiers for 6 hours. You might also think that the sun has stopped shining, but it was just smoke. Only the fire and a few rays of sunlight lightened the battlefield.
...
Back at the battle at Shay, you could slowly see the orcs being pushed back. Little by little, the humans are gaining freedom, but at what cost? They are walking over dead bodies, not knowing who they are fighting with or who they are killing. It feels like it's all the most normal thing in the world. You can assure that many are distraught after this event, even the thought of a gun will remind them of that day.
But they all earned Shay's respect! Shay felt for the first time in his life that someone trusted him. They also don't say anything when soldiers die or when something goes wrong. They accept what the leader commands. It is also an honor for Shay himself to lead an "army". He wants to lead these people to victory and therefore he will show them the way!
Shay flew from the center of the circle with his servants, who were over 200 by now, towards the east, where Varian's postion must be. He flew in front of all the soldiers and plunged directly into the orc crowd slashing his opponents one by one and commanding his subjects to clear the way for the soldiers while distracting many orcs.
This tactic went great! In less than 10 minutes, the army cleared a path of 40 meters and all the soldiers fought on euphorically. They used everything they had left to make Shay proud. Some grabbed their helmets, others their shields and some stabbed at the orcs with swords.
Maybe God is watching at this moment and appreciates the courage of the soldiers, everyone thought. After all, all the people did not know what it is really like to be in heaven. They thought of all the angels being civilized and talking to each other and seeing God every day. Possibly Shay could drop a good word and transport the fallen ones to heaven.
However, things did not go well for the people permanently. Sometimes Shay also fails to kill as many enemies as possible and then several orcs also get through and then kill 100 soldiers again. A fight between each other is always decided in maximum 1 minute. The first one to hit with the sword wins and that is often the faster one. But you must not underestimate the mass of the orcs. If the orcs hit a human with a club or something similar, they will be crushed and explode.
The cavalry also handed over the horses to Shay's servants. Not only was this very friendly, but it was also a good way to kill a lot of enemies quickly while drawing a lot of aggro and charging into the enemies. While the servants and Shay were "tanking" the attacks the soldiers could move in, forcing a battle from 2 fronts.
The humans were thus able to kill 2000 orcs within 40 minutes and advance 100 meters. Many of the humans were already rejoicing and cheering about their victory they had achieved so far. However, this jubilation was interrupted by a sudden earthquake and Shay knew that a disaster was imminent.
The earthquake was so violent that cracks in the ground began to mark the battlefield. Many soldiers and orcs could not hold themselves from quaking and fell to the ground, but even that did not stop them from fighting. A skewered head there, a torn off head there and at another place one saw how an orc skewered several people at once with his weapons and horns. The screeching of all the creatures could be heard everywhere. Orders came, screams switch through the area.
The earthquake did not stop, however, and slowly a fissure appeared in the ground from which lava poured out and shot into the air. However, that was not the worst of it, because suddenly a huge asteroid appeared in the air with a diameter of 50 meters. Behind it followed smaller smaller meteors.
The end of the living in this battle had come!