lizard lord

Chapter 167 The Problem of the Swamp
Not long after, the next batch of hobgoblins' train was also attacked by the Griffin Knights, and the supplies and trains suffered a great loss, and the time they could support on the front line was further shortened.

The Bloodfist hobgoblin was able to plunder a lot of supplies from the countryside. Earl Luford was not willing to use the strong wall to clear the field. The Green Spear could only rely on supplies. The forest was full of hostility to them, so it was not a good place.

Under such circumstances, the hobgoblins naturally chose to fight again, integrated the troops and weapons at hand, and finally launched a round of offensive against the city wall.

However, their strength has already suffered a considerable loss, and their offensive is far from as fierce as it was at the beginning.

The dwarves have not yet replenished their troops, but there are enough horse vulture knights flying in the sky. Tang Zhao and the others successfully defeated the enemy's attack. From the beginning to the end, the hobgoblin took at most one or two towers. It was quickly driven down by the defenders who were waiting in battle.

In the final analysis, a city surrounded by forests is indeed not suitable for attacking. Unless it uses five times and ten times the strength of the army, it will be difficult for the attacker to reap the final victory.

Assuming that the hobgoblins really temporarily occupied the city, they will definitely stay for a long time. The delivery of supplies is very difficult, and the dwarf army is about to arrive—not a small fight of hundreds of people in two or three years, but 2000 people dispatched in one go. Tang Zhao is very satisfied with the team led by a special strong man, and the final victory must be impossible.

After the attack failed, with the lessons learned from last time, the hobgoblins did not continue to write on the spot. Otherwise, if something goes wrong and they are defeated, none of them can run out of the forest, and the loss is too great.

There are two obvious choices before them—either go straight through the forest to help the bloodfist hobgoblin who is besieging Luford City, or retreat directly and go back to rest and preserve their strength.

The opponent's commander chose the latter. After all, they may not be able to succeed if they help Blood Fist, and even if they succeed, the credit will basically be on the opponent's head.

The opponent retreated in an orderly manner, strictly guarding against possible attacks, and the army moved slowly but there were no obvious flaws.

Griffon riders can cause them a lot of trouble, but that's all. They consciously enter the forest, and the lush tree canopy becomes a good cover for them. Even if there are goblins navigating in the dark, their The efficiency of the attack has also dropped significantly.

The defenders in the city lost a lot, and their numbers were not enough to launch a large-scale attack on the hobgoblins, but they were not in a hurry.

Hobgoblin commanders are playing it safe, but this also traps them in a way.

They chose to rely on the abandoned dwarf fortress to camp. The underground of the fortress has been dug through by Tang Chao. During the period of the siege, the defenders have been mobilizing manpower to widen the tunnel. Although the lizards are still not allowed Humanoid creatures with such a large size can still allow dwarves and kobolds to carry some weapons and equipment to drill holes in the ground more comfortably.

The hobgoblins were not unwarranted of the seemingly empty fortress. On the contrary, they deployed a large number of sentries and guards around the garrison.

The dwarves have fortified every block underground. These bricks and stones are not advanced enough to recognize people. As long as they are inside, anyone can use these things for defense.

But after all, the dwarves are most familiar with the things built by their own race. They have conducted investigations before and have commercial maps in their hands. Their familiarity with the terrain is not comparable to that of other races.

Taking advantage of this advantage, they have been closely monitoring the hobgoblin's movements and defense status, looking for suitable attack opportunities.

It's a pity that the hobgoblin seemed to have noticed something, and instead of moving everyone into an unfamiliar place like the Dwarf Fortress, they camped near the city wall, and could respond in time to any disturbances on the ground, so as not to be wiped out underground .

This kind of preparation is definitely effective, but this time the dwarves have really exerted their strength, and it is hard to say how good the effect will be.

The fully loaded dwarf army has arrived in the territory of Insula, and is constantly approaching the place where the hobgoblins are stationed.

The stamina and willpower of the dwarves are superior, which allows them to carry out forced marches over longer distances, and with the support of the woodland dwellers, they can move more freely in the woodland, far faster than the hobgoblins.

…………

Not long after, under the expectant eyes of the defenders, the dwarf army from Dragon's Blood Pass finally arrived near the hobgoblin army.

Originally, Tang Zhao’s idea was to let the dwarves stop first, rest and recover their strength, organize their equipment, and make a detailed plan before doing anything. However, the commander of the dwarves thought that the speed of soldiers was very important, and they could not give the opponent time to react.It took them only two hours to complete the above-mentioned preparations, and then they acted as the main attackers and launched an attack with the cooperation of the defenders.

Nearly [-] warriors coordinated to attack the hobgoblins in the abandoned fortress from several directions. They relied on the broken city wall to prepare for defense, and indeed achieved certain results, and the attack was blocked.

But this time, Tang Zhao has real thighs.

The commander of the dwarves, Collier, is related to the king. That's not the point. The point is that he has a fifth-level strength and a warhammer handed down from the golden age.

Holding the hammer in his hand, he tore through the defenses of the hobgoblins in a devastating manner, and powerful lightning burst out from the rune weapon.

Bourne's weapon is a masterpiece of contemporary rune blacksmiths. In terms of materials, it is not necessarily inferior to this one, but the level of runes on it cannot be compared.Collier is also a stronger dwarf warrior who can withstand greater force, and the lightning he can summon is also several sizes larger than Bourne's.

Tier [-] fighters are no longer enemies that can be dealt with by simply manpower. Using ordinary fighters to deal with this kind of enemy, it is difficult to achieve any results without paying more than a thousand casualties. Their martial arts, physical fitness, and reaction speed are all beyond Common sense.

Observing the fighting posture of this strong man, Tang Zhao occasionally uncontrollably thought of Doom Slayer or William the Terror (the protagonist of Wolfenstein) in video games. The appearance is similar to that of the same race, but maybe the inside is quite different.

This is the case with hobgoblins now, ordinary soldiers are wiped out in large numbers by a powerful dwarf warrior, and they have nothing to do with this warrior.

At the same time, although the hobgoblins have extremely good fighters, the dwarves are not far behind. They have huge advantages in weapons and armor. The closely linked fighters form a shield wall. They have an advantage in one round. Their armor cannot be physically immune, but it is more than enough to resist the slashing and partial piercing attacks of swords.

The ballistas and trebuchets removed from the walls of Karaksalmar fired together with the portable ballistas brought by the dwarves, and there were griffon knights in the sky who kept throwing stones to the ground. In terms of firepower, the hobgoblins were at an absolute disadvantage. .

Hobgoblins' aggressiveness is inseparable from the support of cannon fodder goblins. The huge superiority in numbers is usually effective in combat, but not always. The battle quickly began to break down.

A considerable number of goblins began to collapse, ignoring the supervisory team behind, and fled towards the depths of the underground fortress or the depths of the forest.

One pass ten, ten pass one hundred. Most of the goblins present have not received much training and have no special feelings. They are not much stronger than the morale of the farmers and soldiers recruited from everywhere in the previous world. Their collapse also affected the nearby hobgoblins. Their formation was impacted, giving Tang Zhao and others greater opportunities to attack.

Tang Zhao has been keeping in touch with the underground dwarves with psychic energy. Seeing that the time is ripe, he quickly calls on the underground dwarves to attack from the ground.

One or two hundred people is not a threat at all in normal times, but at this time, only one or two hundred people are needed to make the enemy fall into further chaos. In fact, things have indeed developed like this.

Currier took the lead when commanding the attack. He and the soldiers under his command displayed a strong aggressiveness. The attack on the hobgoblins was swift and fierce without mercy. There were no prisoners and they were all killed.

In the long history, the two sides have accumulated quite terrible contradictions, especially the extremely vengeful race of the dwarves. It doesn't take much to understand their hatred for these hobgoblins.

But resentment is resentment, and they did not forget to ensure their own safety. The formation of the dwarves has not changed much, and it still maintains a pleasing order.

Tang Zhao didn't say anything to stop it, because he knew very well that hobgoblins would not surrender, and ordinary goblins were not worthwhile targets. Hobgoblins would not pay ransom for them. They are also a race that hardly keeps prisoners. At the same time, there is magic in this world. With such things as the earth spirit, there would be hidden dangers in keeping them in the settlement, and Tang Zhao didn't want to take risks.

With the last of the hobgoblins slain, the war near Karak'thalmar came to an end.

The dwarf warriors under Currier didn't have much loss. He left the battlefield to the kobolds to clean up. At the same time, he generously didn't ask for a share of the loot. Some wine and meat, as a reward for their trip.

It's easy to pass, with such a big posture, you just need to take care of the food.
-
The offensive on his side was successfully resolved, but Tang Zhao had no time to celebrate. He immediately left the stronghold with hundreds of lizardmen warriors and rushed towards the Kubango swamp.

Seeing that this round of hobgoblins' offensive has completely declared bankruptcy, Tang Zhao's troubles have not been resolved, especially the troubles of the lizard people.

The crisis in the Lizardman's own family has not been resolved. The Black Lizardmen still have many slaves from other tribes. The Bloodfist Hobgoblin will also have a high probability of withdrawing their troops soon. Killing all the lizardmen slaves was a huge loss to Tang Zhao and the lizardmen.

He has already negotiated with Red Scale and other shamans, and the two sides have formed an alliance, including but not limited to the two sides helping each other in wartime, exchanging supplies with each other in peacetime, and the Lizardman sending some volunteers to receive training to help defend Karak Solmar and others wait.

In short, it is something that is beneficial to both parties. Tang Zhao needs these strong lizardmen, and the lizardmen also need someone to provide weapons, equipment and living supplies. A safe rear is essential.

Their luck was not bad. On the way to the Kubango swamp, they did not encounter any patrols or trains of the bloodfist hobgoblins. The swamp is the home of the lizard people. Even those hobgoblins are unwilling place to stay for a long time.

The road was unimpeded, and Tang Zhao was not in a hurry to attack the Black Lizardman's camp during the day, but went to meet a person first—a hobgoblin spellcaster who had common interests with him and was unwilling to see demons appear.

I don't know how he works. In short, he didn't directly participate in the siege of the human city Luford and the surrounding areas, but guarded his home in the swamp.

"Since you are here, can I think that the Green Spears' attack on you has failed?"

[Of course, the failure was complete. Whether the Green Spear can maintain its original status is a matter of opinion. This was not long ago. We rushed here day and night.The commander of the Bloodfist hobgoblin should also know about this soon, but we don't know how he will react. 】

"Let me guess first, you came to this ghost place in such a hurry, it should be because of those imprisoned lizardmen?"

[Exactly, I need your help. 】

Tang Zhao's eyes were fixed on the other party. He was waiting for this person to make an offer. He and the other party were purely exchanging benefits from the beginning to the end, but there was no such thing as a free lunch.

"To be honest, this is not an easy task. In exchange, I want food and medicine, as much as there is, and it is best to be able to live 500 people a year."

This is not a small amount. To put it another way, it is enough to feed 6000 people for a month, which is equivalent to a month's ration for the entire settlement. Even Tang Zhao can't easily decide.

There are wars everywhere this spring, and production has been severely disrupted. Even if there is no serious famine, a sharp increase in food prices will still be inevitable.

[If you don't say it clearly, I can't make a decision. 】

The other party showed a somewhat helpless expression on his hideous face: "Well, this is actually very simple. Food and medicine are what I and my people need, and I don't need to say more about food. Take it for food. To be more specific about the medicine, it is the medicine to treat malaria. This ghost place is full of mosquitoes, which are more annoying than poisonous snakes and crocodiles in the water. Most of our people have already been recruited. If there is no medicine for treatment , I am afraid that many people will die.”

After all, mosquitoes are the most murderous animals in the world. Hobgoblins have a good physique, but they are not stronger than humans, so they are still unavoidable in the face of mosquitoes.

[For the problem of medicine, I can provide it to you after I go back, but unless you find a high-level mage or priest, there is no 100% possibility of curing diseases such as malaria, you have to be clear about this.The medicines in my hands are all prepared by druids, so it is inevitable that there are some imperfections. 】

"I can accept that something is always better than nothing."

[In addition, I am also very short of food now, so I can't give it to you directly.But I have some contact with the royal family of Oran, they are definitely willing to provide you with food, as long as you can maintain your hostility to demons]

He interrupted Tang Zhao with a loud voice: "Don't worry, even if you and the Oran royal family are all degenerate, and go with the devil, I won't have that day, you just need to worry about how to give me food and medicine faster, time wait for no one."

[Okay, the deal is concluded.Next, I need you to cash in first and help us rescue those lizardmen slaves. I am personally willing to give something more as a reward. 】

PS. There were some things yesterday, and the update will be made up tonight or tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)