The humans didn’t charge or march forward immediately. Instead, their forces separated into four defined groups, each led by a knight. Each knight also had another two knights standing close by, helping relay orders while staying ready to support and protect their leader.
Formations complete, two of the groups marched forward towards the orcs. The two outer groups moved at an angle, away from the center two groups. The humans were broadening their battle line and threatening a flank against the orcs.
Oh no.
Orcs were trained almost from birth to face enemies head-on. Chief Ironblood’s orcs were no exception. As the humans moved toward the sides, the warriors on the edges of the orc line turned to face them. The orc line changed from a flat, even line to a semi-circle as orcs angled themselves to be ready for charges at entirely different targets.
“This is dangerous! We need to charge NOW!” Greenbough shouted. Ironblood’s eyes grew wide as he glanced back at the deformed battle line, and with a sudden roar began to charge at one of the central human groups before they could expand their position further.
Greenbough roared and charged forward as well, and the orcs split into roughly equal groups behind the two ancient orcs.
Rather than continuing their advance, the humans stopped. Ironblood's target of humans huddled down into a shield wall.
Shield walls were tricky. Could Ironblood get through? Probably. But it would kill the momentum of his charge, dragging him into a slower fight where he had to face attacks from all sides. Instead, Ironblood turned to look at the other group of humans. Instead of a shield wall, they were counter-charging at Greenbough.
Stopping a few paces ahead of the first human group, Ironblood veered towards Greenbough's target. Both groups of orcs melded into a single force. When they crashed into the human group, this proved to be a wise choice. The two ancient orcs were too much for just a quarter of the human’s overall force, and they easily broke through the front line.
And then there was slaughter.
It was not a day for taking bounties. Every swing of the chief's weapon would lop off an arm or crush a skull. The two chiefs hardly slowed as they advanced, leaving a trail of the maimed and dead humans behind them.
Slowly they began to sense something was wrong - they were slaughtering men by the dozens, but not knights. Both chiefs had expected the strongest resistance to come from the leaders of the humans, but the elite human knights were nowhere to be seen. Ironblood swung his weapon wildly to clear space, and used the moment’s respite to search for signs of flashy armor in the human force. When he looked back at the orc line, he saw the beginnings of disaster.
The chiefs had pressed too far forward, and the knights had taken advantage of that. They now were wreaking havoc among the lesser orcs. The orc forces had been split into three parts - the chiefs, the warriors, and the newly trained support orcs. The chiefs could take care of themselves, but the seasoned orcs were struggling and falling against the coordinated efforts of the human soldiers.
There wasn't even a question of struggle among the support orcs. They were being slaughtered by the knights.
Chief Ironblood let out a desperate roar and began to charge back through the human forces towards the lesser orcs. About halfway through his charge, he stumbled and looked down to see a spear jutting out of the meat of his thigh. In his hurry, he had let down his guard. The humans had once again been ready for his latest move.
Reaching down, the chief ripped the spear from his leg, then hurled it forward. It whistled through the air and impaled through two soldiers. But the damage was already done. In the few seconds the chief was slowed, the human forces closed around him, eating up the space necessary for a new charge and effectively immobilizing him.
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Ironblood could see Greenbough nearby, also swarmed by humans. The two chiefs roared and swung their weapons wildly. They caused mayhem and death, but still faced an endless flood of human soldiers. They were stuck deep in the planning of the humans, killing but caged.
—
In the main group of blooded warrior orcs, Adam and his team were fighting for their lives.
At first, it had been easier to keep up with the chiefs. The ancient orcs were faster, but the field was clear and they hadn’t fallen far behind. They watched as the chiefs crashed into the human frontline and prepared to dive into the melee with them to mop up the now disorganized humans that the chiefs had missed.
Before they could make contact, they were hit hard by a tidal wave from their left. One of the outer human groups had made an angled charge into their flank. The orcs were fully focused on following their leaders and never saw it coming. The orcs at the side had been overpowered by the human charge in an instant, and the collision left pure chaos among the orc ranks.
As Adam furiously blocked and bashed ahead of him, he caught a glimpse of the chiefs wading deeper and deeper into the human forces. Around him, the warrior orcs were giving up on chasing the chiefs and instead getting drawn into battle with the humans piling around them.
At first, the warrior orcs held their own. After all, each orc was the equal of ten men. In the heat of battle, when the orcs lost their fear, they were untouchable. Orc weapons swept back and forth everywhere Adam could see, killing humans and flinging them into each other. For a few moments, Adam clung to the desperate hope that the chief’s training had strengthened their forces enough to punch through the incoming group of humans.
He only held the hope for a moment.
Both of the chiefs tangled in one human battle group. They were wreaking havoc but stuck in that group. The other three groups were free to do as they wished.
One group had swept into the support orcs, separating them from the fighting orcs. And it was only when a swing of his shield was foiled by another orc stumbling into his back that Adam fully realized the purpose of the other two.
The human battle group that had first engaged the orc warriors had early success in catching the orcs off guard. But once the battle got under way, they were no match for the enraged orc warriors and barely held the line. That changed when the second group hit the orcs from behind. Unlike the first group, the second group had less success catching the orcs off-guard. Instead, they used brute force to push the orcs back and directly into the first group.
The two human groups sustained heavy losses as they pushed forward but they managed to condense the orc warriors into a smaller and smaller space. Orcs were trained to fight as individuals and favored heavy, mass-based weapons. Without room to maneuver and swing their weapons, their strength became less of an advantage and more of a liability.
They're intentionally stopping us from building momentum. And now we're stuck. They have us.
All around him, Adam watched as orcs struggled to find space to dodge. Shoulders were bumping against other shoulders. Weapons were glancing off allies before reaching their targets. The humans had used tactics, and the orcs were paying the price.
The tactics had their price. The human soldiers watched as blunt blows crushed their comrades. And still, they carried on. These weren't the normal villagers and town guards that had been part of skirmishes. There were no knights pushing them forward or leading the charge. These were humans who somehow weren't afraid of death.
As the surrounding space collapsed, the younger orcs had naturally clumped together. It kept them safe. But soon, an orc near them fell. Then another. Without room to fight, the orc warriors were being hacked to death by a thousand cuts.
“Push into their lines!” Adam shouted. But the warrior orcs had no concept of coordinating an attack like that, especially under heavy pressure. Two warriors moved forward anyway, hitting the human lines like battering rams.
The human line took the charges like a sponge. The orcs charged into empty space, before the humans jumped on them. The line then closed before the other orcs could follow. Adam could hear their roars as they started to weaken and gradually fade to nothing.
“What should we do?” Dax looked at Adam desperately. His spear was only effective with distance, and the orcs were pressed too close to each other for him to have room to strike from behind. Sam was also completely nullified. There was little room to even draw his bow effectively, let alone aim it at the humans.
Adam was at a loss. He had never seen humans fight like this before. He had no idea of how to deal with this problem. There had to be a solution, but he couldn’t see it. All he could see was orcs dropping left and right as the cumulative damage built up to levels they couldn’t tank.
Meanwhile, the humans continued to close the noose around the orcs. Adam’s group bunched up together. It was no longer a question of attacking humans. It was a question of gasping for breath, of keeping their weapons raised against the rain of strikes, of ignoring the pain from their wounds. It was a question of survival.