Chapter 62: Chapter 4: War with the Beastmen
Su Li could see through the Beastmen’s conspiracy at a glance, and the cunning wanderers living in this harsh land could naturally see it clearly as well.
Within the Limborg Farm, the owner made a decision after a fierce dispute.
A man with a long scar over his left eye held a bow and arrow. He shot an arrow onto the mountain path in front of the Beastmen and shouted fiercely and forcefully, "We, the tenacious Rangers of the Evil Land, do not negotiate with you two-legged sheep monsters! Get lost quickly, and don’t provoke us, our arrows are accurate enough to shoot every hair off your head."
Two-legged sheep?
Hearing this term, Su Li couldn’t help but click his tongue, surprised that this world had such a term. But the meaning of two-legged sheep in this world is entirely different from the past life, yet perfectly matches the image of the Beastmen.
As for the leader of the Beast Herd, a strong Great Horned Beast more than twice the size of a normal person, upon hearing this insulting term from the humans, was instantly enraged. As the leader, he planned village raids, led assault caravans, and every action must ensure his own prestige, not only to intimidate enemies but also to keep his subordinates under his rule. If he could not maintain his prestige, even a slight oversight could result in his death at the hands of ambitious subordinates.
So he must make the people in the farm pay for their offense with their lives, wash their sins with blood, and finally weave their human skin and fragments into the battle banner of his tribe, adding to his glory.
He roared, "Charge in, cut down all the humans, burn everything in the farm, let the entire farm be reduced to ashes under our fury!"
The wandering Beast Herd immediately clutched their war axes and long lances, howling up at the sky. Under the red moon, in the Dark Forest, these sky-howling monsters truly seemed to be the embodiment of human nightmares.
With eyes as red as their rage, the monsters launched a fierce assault on the Limborg Farm. Limborg immediately launched a counterattack, with arrows continuously shooting from behind the watchtower and arrow tower. These chilling arrows struck the Inferior Horned Beasts, causing them to fall backward. The bone-chilling arrowheads easily penetrated their rudimentary leather armor.
But when these arrows hit the Horned Beasts, the effect was greatly reduced! These robust, giant beasts easily broke the arrows on their chests with a stretch of the hand, snorting hot air from their nostrils, continuing their charge.
Su Li thus understood why the serfs in this world lived harsh lives, yet rarely resisted the rule of the Knight Lords.
Because the Knight Lords, even when facing terrifying monsters, do occasionally step up. Without the protection of the Knight Lords, the serfs, armed only with pitchforks and bows, would be powerless against such terrifying monsters, becoming nothing more than food for them.
It was the same for the farm on the mountain; arrows alone were not enough to completely stall the Beastmen’s assault. At most, they instilled fear in some Inferior Horned Beasts.
But as the Beast Herd leader, casually grabbing an escaping Inferior Horned Beast beside him and tearing it in half, spilling a large amount of foul blood and organs, there was no longer any beast that dared to retreat.
A dense cluster of monsters charged to the base of the fortress, with giant axes, long lances, and machetes continuously hacking at the thick stone walls, leaving marks with each strike.
And this stone wall was also the farm owner’s greatest assurance. Though the monsters were terrifying, they had no powerful siege equipment in their barbaric tribe, making it difficult to breach the farm’s defensive facilities in a short time.
The farm continued to shoot cold arrows, intending to repel these monsters with their bows.
After observing for a moment, Knight Oerstein crossed his arms over his chest, coldly concluding, "If nothing unexpected happens, it’s only a matter of time before this farm is breached."
"Ah?" Hilude, who was following beside Su Li, exclaimed in surprise. From her perspective, the Beastmen were continuously suffering losses, so why did Knight Oerstein assert that the Rangers of the Evil Land were about to fail?
Though her talent was high, she had not received a systematic military education nor experienced many wars, so her understanding of warfare was still very superficial, unable to see the battlefield situation clearly.
Under Su Li’s recommendation, Knight Oerstein had already accepted her as an apprentice, stating he would teach her martial arts, strategy, politics, and military knowledge, with the condition that she must become a believer of the Sun Goddess.
Now was a prime time for him to teach by example, so he explained, "A passive defense will inevitably lead to a situation where prolonged defense results in failure. If the farm owner does not dare to proactively gather forces and create a local numerical advantage to launch a counterattack and defeat part of the Beastmen, relieving the pressure on the frontline, it’s inevitable that the Beastmen will break through at some point and enter the farm."
No need to say more. The Rangers of the Evil Land are merely humans who’ve honed their combat skills in a harsh environment. Once they lose the cover of thick stone walls, they cannot withstand the strong physiques of the Beastmen. Especially those terrifying Horned Beasts standing three meters tall; swinging double-handed machetes and giant axes, they could easily chop a human into pieces, with blood and organs raining down on the battlefield.
Knight Oerstein glanced at the deeply shocked Hilude, his proud face with a serious expression, and asked, "Now let me test your understanding of warfare and adaptability. In this situation, what measures would the Beastmen and farm owner take to win?"
Hilude immediately demonstrated her unparalleled talent. She thought for only a moment and could flexibly adapt and seize battlefield opportunities. Her bright eyes shone with confidence as she calmly said, "From the Barbarians’ perspective, they should divert the farm guards’ forces, creating weak points. So if I were the cunning Beast Herd Lord, I would order the herd to set fires in certain directions, creating a large commotion to draw the guards’ attention, then launch a fierce assault from the weakened directions, breaking into the farm in one move."
Almost as her words fell, flames lit up her bright, heroic eyes, and several Elite Knights exclaimed, "They’ve set a fire! They’ve really set a fire! The Beast Herd seems to be burning the western fields and forests, intending to destroy the western defense facilities of the farm, visibly diverting the guards’ attention."
As Hilude predicted, a large fire broke out on the western side of the Limborg Farm, drawing reinforcements from the guards. Shortly after they arrived on the frontline, terrifying howls of Beastmen erupted beneath the eastern wall.
"Roar! Roar! Roar!" A dozen terrifying, towering Horned Beasts charged out from the shadows of the forest, galloping on the mountain path, their massive hooves thudding heavily.
The guards atop Limborg quickly shot arrows in an attempt to stem their assault, but even when hit, the arrows couldn’t stop the onslaught of such massive Horned Beasts. Several Horned Beasts climbed the stone wall under the terrified eyes of the soldiers; one fearsome Horned Beast directly ripped out a guard’s heart and stuffed it into its mouth. With blood splattering and human wails echoing, accompanied by the roars of the Beast Herd, the farm ultimately turned into a purgatory under the blood-red moon.
The owner of Limborg underestimated the number of monsters. The surprise attack from a dozen Horned Beasts hiding in the shadows of the forest left the guards with no response.
Yet there was no remorse, for even if the owner of Limborg had agreed to the demands of the Beast Herd and surrendered 5 blood sacrifices, it would only have delayed this scene by a few days.
In this territory of the Border Prince, far more dangerous than the Empire, such dark and despairing situations permeated every inch of land.