Chapter 184: Battle of Caerleon 2

This was Tristan's fourth battle. In his previous battle, he was only fighting for survival and blood. This time, he also fought for the people of the town.

Tristan rode on top of the red stallion, trudging across the defensive lines that the citizens of Caerleon had built up. His main purpose was to raise morale and showing that he was ready for battle in front of his new people. A little narcissistic display could help improve his image among them.

Seeing the four layers of civilians, even with the addition of a wall of town guards among them, the forces of Caerleon town still looked extremely pitiful to the battle-hardened barbarians. 

It was also unfortunate that the Caerleon town wall was not thick enough to hold this many people on top of it. And Tristan did not want to risk the battle entering the town and causing more damage to its infrastructure. That would lead to too many costs for him. Hence, he decided to create the defensive line outside of the wall.

Once again, he looked towards the anxious civilians lining up for defense. He quietly shook his head and hoped not too many would die in the battle.

He ran through the number of fighters that were under his command. 

1000 civilians

190 town guards

62 Gretchins

148 Grunts

4 Orc champions

There were also about thirty-something adventurers, both silver and bronze ranked, who were forced to join in line with the 1000 civilians and 100 town guards.

The rest of the town guards who were not on the ground stood on top of the walls, armed with bows and arrows that pointed down towards the hordes of barbarians.

As for the orcs, only two dozen of them stood next to him to create some intimidation. The rest, meanwhile, were still hidden in the shadows, ready to be called to the fight at his signal. 

The placement's main purpose was to somehow 'educate' these 1000 civilians about the hardship of the battlefield, which was the reason why Tristan put these civilians to be the first to engage the barbarians.

With a long, fearsome bellow, the enemy had finally sounded their warhorns. It was now an opportunity for Tristan to first give a motivational speech.

Fortunately, he had seen enough war movies back on Earth to create a simple, inspiring speech about gaining honor by fighting for their home and their families. Fighting to take back their lives from their savage enemies in the hope of a better tomorrow where their children would live free from the threat of their enemies. 

Afterwards, Tristan climbed down from his horse and stood defiantly in front of the civilians.

"People of Caerleon, prepare for battle!"

Having their leader standing among them was quite new to the citizens of Caerleon, especially in conditions as precarious as this. The previous elf mayor had never been active outside, after all, and most of the time he was safely tucked within the sturdy walls of the town hall. Their old leader would have never dirtied his luxurious robes to stand with the common people. 

After another loud horn, the battle finally began. It started when two waves of arrows from either side cascaded across the grey sky, injuring a few dozen fighters from both the Viper Triber and the Caerleon's forces when they descended. 

It was then followed by a charge led by over 300 barbarian warriors.

The barbarians' wall of shields were then able to charge forward in unison, synced with one another in perfect harmony, which exerted a great force upon impact. 

Bracckkk!!

Other than the forces that were congregated in the very center, where Tristan was perched on, all the other defensive lines that were mainly made up of citizens immediately pushed open. 

Most civilians on the first layer of defense fell, died, or were heavily wounded. All those who fell were shortly trampled on amongst the chaos. 

Fortunately, the second and third layers would jump in and help cover the gaping holes that were left when the fighters scattered. But still, just with that first charge, nearly all the civilians of Caerleon were crushed. 

On the right side of the line, Tristan had appointed Gazef to boost morale, urging the citizens on as he motivated them to give their all in protecting their hometown. On the left side, he placed Astrid and Seth.

As for Hererra, Tristan decided that with her abilities it would be wise to place her on top of the walls alongside the other guards. Standing with her was Uriel; although he was relieved that he did not have to partake in the carnage down below, he was still quivering in fear. 

Unfortunately, even with the adventurers, most of the town guards were still basically civilians with some knowledge regarding weapons and basic fighting tactics. The defensive line was no match to these skillful barbarians warriors. 

The situation wasn't seeming to get any better, but Tristan still decided to let the one thousand civilians have a taste of the battlefield for a little while longer.

Screams of terror and panic reverberated throughout the defensive lines.

As for himself, none of the barbarians were able to stand 2 steps away from him and survive. Tristan swung and slashed his sword to his heart's content. Each slice of his blade would take away a barbarian's life.

With every motion he made, blood splatters flung across the ground, staining everything in his path.

Splaatttt!! Swwisshh!!

After a short 10 minutes, Tristan could see that the civilian's defense lines were in jeopardy. He raised his hand, sending a signal to Uriel who was perched on the wall.

Suddenly, loud, clamoring sounds could be heard from the town gates as the orcs lumbered in swiftly, finally joining the battle. 

Chiiwwiilkk!! Chiwwiilll!!

These green creatures charged right through, dividing themselves into five groups. Each group contained around two dozen orcs, led individually by Karra and the 4 orc champions.

Thus, with the arrival of the orcs, the situation quickly turned in their favor.