Summoning Total War - Chapter 10
Chapter 10: Attack! (Part 2)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The gnolls’ gathering grounds looked like a primitive village. It was surrounded by a few wooden boards that could barely be considered a fence, and there was a simple tent inside made of four thick logs and animal skin. In the middle of the tent was a big pot where the gnolls gathered together to cook their food. The primitive society distributed their food equally, although the stronger males and shamans were given priority to feast.
These tents could only be inhabited by the alpha males in the gnoll clan. The females without partners and the weaker males were relegated to sleeping in the wilderness or finding a cave for themselves to stay in.
It could be said that the gnolls who were fighting against the humans had evolved. They had now established a fairly strict hierarchy. It was even possible that a noble system for the gnolls had resulted from the war—ranked nobles!
Fortunately, Murphy found that the gnolls that were entrenched near their towns were rather primitive and acted more like beasts than intelligent beings.
This would undoubtedly save him a lot of unnecessary trouble.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Murphy didn’t know much about fighting a war.
But as a product of the information age, he had learned a lot about war strategies and tactics from various sources, even if he had merely read about them.
In his head, Murphy logically filtered out tactics that were specific to the age of firearms. Then he began to organize what he knew about the tactics used in the age of cold weapons.
The tactics like the ones in domestic movies weren’t relevant, because he wasn’t in the age of firearms. Warfare during the age of cold weapons was extremely physically draining, so the role of morale was particularly important! “The very first attack cheers them up, the second weakens them, while the third absolutely devitalizes them.” These words expressed that clearly.
After thinking about this, Murphy recalled this widely circulated sentence from and thought about it in regard to the upcoming battle.
said: “Do not interfere with an army that is returning home. When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.”
It was only three simple sentences, but it contained the essence of .
“When you surround an army, leave an outlet free….” Murphy was standing on the hillside a hundred meters away, looking in the direction of the gathering grounds of the gnolls. He was already drawing up a plan in his mind.
This place, which was the gathering grounds of the gnolls, had more than 300 matured gnolls, and their villages had just been built by using leather and cloth that they had looted from the human towns.
These gnolls were rather stupid. They sewed leather, linen, and cotton together with rough fishing thread. Then, they made these colorful tents their home. The only thing these primitive, yet-to-be cultured creatures were good at was peeling off skin and sewing up simple leather armor. Their clawed hands weren’t yet adapted for doing things like farming and making crafts. The gnolls didn’t even know how to build a simple wooden house.
There was simple fencing on all four sides of the gathering grounds. Behind the fences were wild beasts that the gnolls had caught, animals looted from the human towns, and possibly even humans…
Lady Elizabeth mentioned that the gnolls that had formed tribes had already learned how to enslave humans. They knew that they should use uninjured humans as slaves and get them to raise livestock, plow lands, build houses, and make weapons!
However, it was obvious that these gnolls in the lands surrounding the town of Athens weren’t highly intelligent like the gnolls Lady Elizabeth had described. What was scary was the fact that the first thing these gnolls could think of doing after capturing these humans was filling their stomachs.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
All the information Murphy collected was pointing to one thing!
These gnolls were in the process of evolving!
The gnolls from the entire southern plains were gradually evolving from primitive beasts to intelligent life.
And their barbaric civilization system had gradually been developing in the war against humans! They had started to create a primitive cuneiform script system, formed ranked nobilities, learned how to herd and domesticate beasts, captured slaves, and even worshipped their ancestors….
Or perhaps these clan gnolls were still primitive beasts, but the matured gnolls that were taken in by the Kazats Gnoll Tribe were starting to become intelligent!
. . . . . . . . . . . .
“Spartan infantry, advance.”
The strength of the Greek armies lay in their defensive ability and their marching formations. Without their strong cavalry in the field, the Greeks would be unable to capture the scattering enemy forces.
Murphy chose to attack at noon, which was the time when the gnolls started to cook their captured prey.
The gnolls are the same as humans. Or, to be more precise, most of the intelligent creatures of the world were the same. They all had the tradition of eating two meals a day.
Those two meals were lunch and dinner.
At about ten o’clock, Murphy ordered the army to have lunch in advance so they could prepare to raid the gnolls when the gnolls were having their lunch!
At that time, the vast majority of the gnolls would have returned to the gathering grounds.
“Peng! Peng! Peng!”
The dull footsteps of the Spartan infantry alarmed the female gnolls who were cooking, and they let out horrifying cries.
The male gnolls that had just returned from their hunt for prey picked up their crude weapons in an attempt to protect the female and young gnolls behind them. They vigilantly looked to the east side of the fence and made a sharp howling noise, as though they were trying to intimidate and drive the enemies away!
It was a pity that they were facing real warriors—lifelong professional soldiers! Their howls didn’t mess up the tempo of the Spartan infantry’s marching. Instead, because of the Spartan infantry’s fearlessness, the gnolls themselves began showing signs of panic.
“Greek infantry, advance!”
The sound of tidy footsteps rumbled out from the other side of the gnolls’ gathering grounds. The group of Greek infantry approached the gnolls at the same pace. Unlike the Spartan infantry, this troop of Greek infantry made howling cries while they marched forward to try and drive the beasts away.
The two troops of infantry approached the gathering ground of the gnolls in a “V” formation.
The infantry formation widened and elongated, leaving a large and small opening at the front and back of the “V” shape.
“General Guards, speed up!” Murphy said, raising his whip and pointing toward the entrance of the gnolls’ campsite.
The sound of the horses’ hooves was more oppressive than the sound of the infantry’s neat footsteps, and the situation in the gnolls’ camp became disordered. The stronger gnolls had already picked up their weapons and were rushing toward the infantry formation, while the weaker gnolls were trying to escape in the direction where there were no enemies.
Facing the army definitely wasn’t the same as facing defenseless farmers.
The latter was just prey in the eyes of the gnolls, and the former was more difficult to deal with than bears, tigers, and leopards!
“Spartan infantry, charge. Greek infantry, advance in formation.”
Murphy stood alone outside the surrounding formation, with the herald and the head guard at his side. When the surrounding circle was close to the best distance of fifty meters, Murphy decisively ordered the Spartan infantry to charge.
The Spartan infantry’s combat strength and discipline wasn’t something the Greek infantry could simply gain through training. The Spartan infantry’s high morale could even help them survive against enemies that were several times stronger than themselves! So, using the Spartan infantry, Murphy could let go of the reins and use their most lethal power to tear apart the enemies’ formation. However, the Greek infantry’s combat strength and morale were average, so the commanders had to steadily attack using the Phalanx formation to steadily move forward. This would reduce casualties and avoid the possible heavy losses from the gnoll’s counterattacks.
After the Spartan infantry launched their attack, the lower gap in the “V” formation started to close, and only the upper gap was left open.
“General Guards, shoot freely!”
Under Murphy’s order, the General Guards divided into two teams. Forming a larger “V” on either side, the general guards started to throw their javelins into the gnolls’ gathering grounds after finding a suitable position.
“Sparta!”
The Spartan infantry, wearing their blood-red cloaks, placed their shields in front of them as they approached the fence. After that, these powerful soldiers ran down the fences and rushed up to the male gnolls that were guarding the periphery.
The Spartan infantry slammed into the gnolls’ gathering grounds in one go. It was like if a huge boulder had been thrown into a lake, causing not only large ripples, but a violent disturbance on its surface!
These warriors were top in the world during this era. They were like sharp swords, and just like sharp swords they slammed into the gnolls’ gathering grounds, frightening the gnolls and splitting them into two groups. It was as though they’d cut them into two big cakes!
“Good opportunity!” Murphy said, instantly brightening up. He didn’t hesitate to order the General Guards to attack the male gnolls that had been separated from the Spartan infantry and Greek infantry.
The General Guards wielded javelins and daggers. The javelins were about two meters long, and they could be used as short spears.
“Hu! He! Kill!!!”
With the dull sound of weaponry piercing through their flesh, the male gnolls that were attacked from three sides soon collapsed.
Fear of death made the gnolls lose their courage to fight, and they started fleeing toward the opening of the “V” formation.
Murphy then decisively ordered the General Guard to bypass the fence from the side to stop the female gnolls and gnoll cubs. He didn’t order for the General Guards to chase the male gnolls that fled, but instead ordered the formation to shrink to “eat” the clan’s weaker gnolls.
The battle ended quickly.
The female gnolls and gnoll cubs had little chance of surviving when going up against the Spartan infantry and Greek infantry.
It took only a few minutes for all the surrounded female gnolls and gnoll cubs to become corpses.
The soldiers started to treat the wounded while killing off any gnolls that hadn’t died yet.
The casualty statistics soon came out.
One hundred and twenty-four enemies had been annihilated, while five of their own had died, and more than 30 were slightly injured.
The casualties were all from the Greek infantry. The Spartan infantry had suffered almost no losses. The gnolls’ simple weapons weren’t enough to injure the Spartan infantry, who were protected by their shields, and the ones that had died had been attacked at the vital parts of their bodies. The soldiers who were wounded mainly had scratches from the gnolls’ claws, but with the Holy Water, those wounds would quickly heal.
About 200 matured gnolls managed to flee the gathering grounds.
Murphy calculated the time it would take to catch up to the gnolls and ordered the Spartan infantry and Greek infantry to pursue the gnolls in the direction they had escaped.
And he himself led the General Guards around the river to the nearby northern valley.
There, the other half of the Greek infantry that had experience in battle lay in ambush!
