Rise of the Horde-Chapter 396 -

The battle horns loudly blared, signalling for the Ereian army to begin their march. They presented a good battle line of three rows with a good number of reserves at the very rear. At the very front was a group of range soldiers, a mix of skirmishers and archers who were equip with little to no armor.

The second line consisted of lightly armoured infantry armed with spears and shields. And the last line was comprised of heavily armoured looking infantry equipped with swords and shields. Just behind their reserves was their cavalry.

"Skirmishers to the front!" Khao'khen quickly made an adjustment to their formation. Since the enemy wanted to fight a range battle first then he would oblige.

"Kanikarr Corps, used the lighter bolts for the initial fight!" he added. The lighter bolts for their siege weapons would deal lighter damage but they have far more range than the heavier ones.

The main body of both armies halted as their ranged fighters continued to advance forward. Equipped with just javelins, the trolls had to get closer to their foes before they could began fighting back and had to endure the rain of arrows that were being showered upon them by the enemy archers.

Arrows whizzed in the air but with the troll's loose formation and agility, the arrows wasn't able to do much damage to them. Only the few unlucky ones were hit by the arrows but so far, none was injured heavily.

Under the rain of arrows, the Troll Skirmishers finally had their targets in range. They quickly unleashed a barrage of their own while trying their best to avoid the retaliation from their foes. Javelins and arrows soared through the air, with some finding their mark while others missed and landed upon the scorching sand.

With a an audible twang from the siege weapons of the Kanikarr Corps, light iron bolts flew into the air and with great speed landed among the Ereian range fighters.

"Hoooh!"

"Hoooh!"

They didn't know who started it among the Rakshas but the chant began to spread as they strike their shield with their spears and stomp their feet on the sands. It didn't take long for the chant to reach the front lines and the Yurakks too joined in.

The menacing united sound from the orcs began to unnerve the archers and javelineers on the Ereian side. They were worried that the frontline of the opposing army would suddenly charge at them. All of them were just lightly armoured or have no armor at all which would mean minimal to protection at all against the orcs when they engage them in a melee.

The Yurakks were shouting towards the Troll Skirmishers, hurrying them up to exhaust their ammunition so that they could get down to the real fighting already. In response, the trolls began throwing their spears in a chaotic rhythm, one after another, there javelins flew one after the other.

"Charge!"

Nobody knew who shouted the command but many of the trolls responded to the shout and quickly sprinted forward. Still with javelins to throw or not, they advanced forward with great haste.

The sudden charge of the trolls caught the Ereians unprepared and with just a distance of less than five hundred meters, the range fighters of both sides began to engage in a chaotic melee.

Khao'khen was surprised by the initiative of the trolls. He had no qualms of them charging up their foes since they had the clear advantage in melee combat. It also helped that the main body of the opposing army lagged too far behind to provide quick aid.

A new sound from the battle horns of the enemy side signalled for their frontline to advance forward rapidly to provide cover for the retreating javelineers and archers. In response, Khao'khen gave the command for their frontline to move forward and engage against the enemy front. The beat of the war drums thundered and the Yurakks rapidly marched forward.

Though they still want to continue the fight, the trolls were ordered to move back and replenish their ammunition to which they quickly obeyed.

The frontline of both sides eventually clashed with none having the clear advantage. Albeit being on the weaker side than the opposition, the spear and shield infantry of the Ereians were able to hold their ground with their numbers. The weight behind each of their charge forced the Yurakks to buckle up and proceed in their advance with caution less they be surrounded and isolated by their foes.

The battle horns once again blasted from the opposing camp which was accompanied by the advancement of their heavy infantry. They began filling in the gaps that were being created by the Yurakks and some of them were attempting a flanking maneuver.

In response, Khao'khen ordered the Rakshas to provide aid and hold the flanks of their battle line alongside with the Drakhars who were slowly but surely losing ground.

Screams of pain and groans of agony echoed all throughout the battlefield. Limbs and blood were flying everywhere. Weapons, armors and shield were being destroyed in great numbers. Lives were being harvested like stalks of wheat.

"Send back the trolls!" Khao'khen quickly sent them back out as soon as they managed to replenish their ammunition. There lines were slowly being push back by the opposing army.

The cavalry of both sides were yet to make a move which should be the deciding factor of the battle.

With the aid of the trolls, the frontline began to stabilize somewhat with them thinning out the number of their foes which lessened the impact of the Ereians frequent charge.

The battle lasted for hours. Exhaustion began to settle in among the soldiers and this worked in favour of the orcs who clearly had more stamina than their opponents. Slowly they began pushing the Ereians back and carved a bloody path inside their formation.

The first to break was the Ereian center where the trolls focused more of their barrage. As soon as the center of the Ereians crumbled, both of their flanks began showing signs of wavering. Khao'khen didn't miss the chance and ordered both cavalries to charge forward and break the morale of the enemy army.