As evening approached, Varrokal and Dezco, guided by Shadow Division scouts, observed their target: a quillboar village on the edge of Bristleback territory.
Varrokal handed Dezco a surveying telescope. The human-sized telescope looked comically small in the tauren's large hands.
Through the telescope, Varrokal carefully examined the Bristleback quillboar settlement.
According to Shadow Division intelligence, this was the largest Bristleback village in the south, with roughly ten thousand quillboar. The surrounding villages held only a few hundred to a few thousand quillboar each.
Therefore, Varrokal and Dezco decided to combine their forces and eliminate this major village first, before splitting up to attack the smaller ones.
Within the village, quillboar warriors patrolled. They were strong, wore crude leather armor, and surprisingly, wielded iron weapons—a stark contrast to the impoverished Razorfen tribe, who could barely afford wooden clubs.
Besides the patrolling warriors, many hunter-like quillboar held wooden crossbows, accompanied by sturdy boars or prairie wolves. These groups heavily guarded the village's blind spots, with the prairie wolves constantly sniffing the air. "Were they using wolves as hunting dogs? That seems... undignified for the wolves," Varrokal mused.
As night fell, the quillboar village lit up with fire. Female quillboar in robes carried torches to light bonfires, and the quillboar brought their prey to the fires, preparing for the evening meal.
Dezco and Varrokal slowly retreated, returning to the base of a nearby hill to wait.
They discussed the timing of their attack, choosing midnight. At this hour, most creatures are at their lowest point of alertness, and sleeping quillboar would be in deep slumber. Even the patrols would be more relaxed, a common instinct. Elite troops could overcome this weakness with rigorous training and a rotation system, effectively preventing surprise night attacks.
The quillboar, however, lacked such discipline. The village of ten thousand quillboar had a large proportion of combat-capable individuals – at least half, perhaps more. This was due to their social structure, where the old and weak were abandoned. As a result, their tribes consisted mainly of adult quillboar and their young.
After resting for a while, as midnight approached, the human knights prepared for the assault. They took out cotton cloths from their packs and began wrapping the hooves of their horses.
Dezco watched, his eyes widening. "Is this a common tactic?" he wondered.
Dezco, a young tauren who had recently come of age, was given command of five thousand kodo beast knights by Galen, in addition to being one of the two original Sunwalkers of the entire tauren race. Cairne Bloodhoof had promoted him, recognizing his potential.
His youth meant he had much to learn. He wasn't sure if the tauren ancestors used similar tactics. Since he had been old enough to remember, the tauren had already moved into the mountainous Stonetalon region under Cairne Bloodhoof's leadership, where cavalry tactics were less practical.
"What are you waiting for? Wrap them yourself!" Varrokal tossed the extra cotton cloth to Dezco. Besides food and water, cotton cloth was a standard item in the knights' packs, a provision made by Galen. Having read extensively in his previous life, Galen knew of a method to muffle the sound of horses' hooves.
Whether it worked or not, it was worth trying. Over the past two years, Cliff's construction teams had been flooded with orders from the farms of the nobility, bringing considerable wealth to Galen. This small amount of cotton cloth was a negligible expense for the wealthy Galen.
The knights, after wrapping their horses' hooves, began to help the kodo beasts with their thick hooves. Varrokal wondered if the cotton wrapping would be effective for such heavy creatures.
With preparations complete, Varrokal and Dezco led their troops out.
It was midnight. The moonlight flickered through dark clouds, and occasional wolf howls echoed across the Barrens. The quillboar village was silent. Only two patrols, yawning and listless, wandered between the huts like zombies.
As the largest power in the Northern Barrens, the Bristleback tribe feared no one. Their few enemies, the harpies on the northwest border, were fewer in number. While the harpies often captured Bristleback quillboar, neither side could gain a decisive advantage.
The Bristleback viewed the Razormane quillboar to the south as easy prey, like a convenient supply depot. They raided their territory whenever they needed food or resources, claiming they were after the Blood Shard to strengthen their tribe.
The Deadwind tribe further south, who claimed royal lineage among the quillboar, feared the Bristleback tribe's potential power from the Blood Shard, which could threaten their position. Therefore, they treated the Razormane territory as a buffer zone, often aiding the Razormane quillboar. The Bristleback tribe was content with this arrangement, allowing the Razormane to grow before raiding them.
The Bristleback tribe had watched the establishment of Galen's Landing with indifference. Despite its proximity, they did not interfere. The presence of a trading port was more beneficial. That year, they successfully robbed several caravans, including those of night elves, tauren, and especially goblin caravans.
Having thrived in the Barrens for millennia, the Bristleback tribe never imagined anyone would dare to attack them.
The infantry led by Fral and Kimil were quietly flanking the village, moving north and west to encircle it and prevent any quillboar from escaping or raising the alarm.
Dezco and Varrokal led the knights, dismounting and sneaking to a hill about a thousand meters from the quillboar village. They climbed the hill to observe.
Several quillboar hunters guarded the village entrance, their heads resting on their boar and prairie wolf companions, sound asleep and snoring. The village's defenses were practically nonexistent.
"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"
Several muffled sounds of arrows cutting through the air echoed. Tauren hunters, having stealthily approached within firing range, drew their longbows and targeted the sleeping quillboar hunters and their animal companions. All of them were killed instantly with headshots, dying silently in their sleep.
Seeing the guards eliminated, Dezco and Varrokal quickly slid down the hill, mounted their steeds, drew their weapons, and issued the order to attack. They spurred their mounts, charging towards the village gate.
With over eight thousand knights combined, attacking this undefended village seemed like a certain victory to Varrokal. However, after years of instruction from the prince, he had learned caution and to never underestimate any enemy. Losing his newly acquired position as legion commander in this small village would be utterly humiliating.
Varrokal was determined not to let Prince Galen's battle plan fail. He, Dezco, Fralar, and Kimir had meticulously discussed every detail to ensure the operation was foolproof.
A thousand meters was a mere dozen seconds for the excellent warhorses and powerful kodo beasts bred at the base.
Dezco took the lead. According to the plan, he was to breach the village gate. The dim village entrance shimmered with golden light. Since learning Vengeful Wrath, Dezco had become as fond of showing off as Galen. Nothing was more satisfying than displaying his power before his five thousand subordinates and three thousand allies.
Especially since the paladin Varrokal, who shared his source of power, had not yet mastered this ability. If he didn't show off now, when would he? Dezco was quite pleased with himself.
Dezco poured all his strength into his giant warhammer. Amplified by Vengeful Wrath, his power surged, and he swung the warhammer at the wooden barricade gate.
"Bang!"
The wooden gate shattered!
The sound of the collapsing gate startled the drowsy patrolling quillboar, who looked towards the gate in astonishment before running to investigate.
As they neared the gate, they heard the muffled sound of galloping. Though the horses' hooves were wrapped in cotton cloth, it only reduced the distance the sound traveled. Now, the sound of charging warhorses and kodo beasts filled the entire village!
Most of the sleeping quillboar were awakened, rising groggily from their huts to see what was happening.
A patrol team on the main road rushed out from the huts and saw Varrokal leading the knightly order. They barely managed to shout, "Enemy attack!"
Before the words were finished, the patrol was cut down by the knights' swords and trampled under the hooves of the charging mounts.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
As the quillboar emerged from their huts and saw the situation, they realized they were under attack and shouted to warn others. Quillboar warriors rushed out of their homes, struggling to arm themselves, grabbing whatever weapons they could find.
The second patrol team's captain was crushed by Dezco, and the others were scattered and killed by the knights' charge.
With the path clear, the knights lit torches and raised them high. The knights on the flanks set fire to the wooden huts lining the road.
The plan was proceeding smoothly. Dezco and Varrokal exchanged glances and issued the next orders:
"Disperse! Form teams of three hundred men. Kill all armed quillboar. Eliminate resistance in the village as quickly as possible! Take the women and children captive!"
Among the Bristleback tribes, adult male quillboar were the primary combatants, consisting of warriors, hunters, and a small number of spellcasters.
Now, Bristleback quillboar holding longswords and battleaxes emerged sporadically, and other quillboar quickly gathered around them, attempting to mount a counterattack.
In the narrow passages, the human knights used broadswords instead of lances. While advancing, they set fire to the huts, driving out the non-combatant women and children.
The quillboar warriors who tried to stop the knights were quickly overwhelmed, leaving piles of corpses in their wake. The knights, like a flood breaking through a dam, charged forward, unstoppable, destroying all in their path.
Finally, in the largest hut in the village center, the village leader reacted and roared, "Rally to me, quickly!"
A futile effort!
As the battle cries erupted, Fralar and Kimir quickly divided their forces, surrounding the village. As the fires soared, signaling their positions, they began to tighten the encirclement.
The battle lasted an hour. Only scattered resistance remained on the village outskirts. Varrokal's knights and Dezco's kodo beast knights had cleared the perimeter several times.
Fires blazed, illuminating the surrounding paths and leaving the hidden quillboar with nowhere to hide.
At this point, only the village center continued to resist. The Bristleback leader had gathered over two thousand quillboar, including his elite warriors and a group of Bristleback arcane mages.
The knights began to close in. In addition to those surrounding the village, the main forces of Fralar and Kimir's legions had entered and were systematically searching the huts, driving the non-combatant quillboar towards the village square.
Under the knights' cover, the musketeers of the Fourth and Fifth Legions advanced towards the center. Those quillboar who had not managed to arm themselves were riddled with musket fire.
The Bristleback arcane mages' spells caused some trouble for the knights. They could control the surrounding thorns to entangle the enemy and were protected by Frost Armor, which resisted the musketeers' bullets.
"Stubborn resistance!"
After capturing this largest village, smaller villages with hundreds or thousands of quillboar remained in the surrounding area. After this battle, Dezco and Varrokal would split their forces, aiming to capture ten enemy strongholds that night!
Dezco was eager to press the attack and expand their gains. Having experienced the thrill of leading troops, this was his first solo command. He needed to prove his abilities to his people!
"Tauren warriors, follow me and charge!"