Warhammer Divine Throne

Everything seemed to be going smoothly.

But just as Belgar was valiantly battling within Eight Peaks Mountain, the leader of the Evil Moon Clan, self-proclaimed ”Eight Peaks Mountain War General” Scasnik, returned.

Scasnik is a cunning goblin warlord, one of the rare few who ascended to leadership among the green-skin hierarchy of orcs—goblins—flatus sprites. His extraordinary craftiness and malicious nature are the keys to Scasnik’s success. With the help of a giant cave squig named ”Gorilla,” the orcs within the Evil Moon Clan are relegated to being goblins’ subordinates.

Many orcs attempted to rebel against Scasnik’s rule, yet they invariably became the feast in Gorilla Squig’s belly. Time and again, he established his iron-fisted control and absolute leadership over the Evil Moon Tribe.

Now, as Scasnik returns from his expedition, he hears the reports from the goblin pups—his beard-enemy has arrived!

”Hehehe, the ones who can fight, the ones who can shoot, I’ve brought back many squigs this time~ Now that my beard-enemy has arrived, won’t there be even more fun?” Scasnik shrieked with reckless laughter, ”Hehehe~ They’re here, life is always filled with surprises!”

”Lads! Follow me! Let’s have a showdown with the beard-enemy!” Scasnik raised his sword, ”We’re going to make those short-dwarves~ those dwarves pay the price. With their thick and short legs, they might take a long time to catch up to us!”

”waaaaaaaaaaagh!” Scasnik raised his sword, imbued with the power of stirring up Brother Two.

Behind him were thousands of Dark Night Goblin Fanatics, tens of thousands of orcs and goblin lads, over eight hundred Squig Riders, and a Forest Giant Spider!

”waaagh!”

”waaaaaaaaaaagh!”

”waaaaaaaaaaagh!”

Under Scasnik’s rallying cry, the green tide surged once more.

...

As Belgar attempted to attack the tower at the mountainside, he keenly sensed something different about the green-skin’s offensive.

In half a month’s time, capturing five defensive lines, the Dwarf Expeditionary Army briefly glimpsed the hope of reclaiming Eight Peaks Mountain.

But the situation quickly took a downturn.

The green-skins no longer utilized hordes of orcs or mass goblins for frontal assaults but employed segmented maneuvers, with numerous Goblin Squig Riders and Goblin Wolf Riders repeatedly harassing the dwarfs’ advancement.

At this moment, the dwarfs exposed their greatest weakness—slow speed and very low mobility. When the green-skin troops abandoned direct assaults and employed harassment and encirclement, the dwarfs had no way to catch up with or eliminate these mobile green-skin troops.

Even the lowest flatus sprite among the green-skins ran as fast as the fastest Ranger among the dwarfs, let alone other units. The repeated harassment by the green-skins meant Belgar and his Expeditionary Army could repel them time and again but failed to annihilate them or catch up. Once dwarfs blindly chased and encountered green-skin counterattacks, they were easily encircled and annihilated with no escape.

After a day’s battle, the Dwarf Expeditionary Army suffered considerable losses.

If only we had a formidable cavalry to assist us, Belgar thought bleakly, having already considered tactics; only the dwarfs had no cavalry, inevitably putting them at a disadvantage against green-skin cavalry.

”Do not blindly chase the enemy upon encounter! Protect the flanks, use artillery and muskets to attack the invading enemy! Fortify the formation!” Belgar immediately issued his command, ”Slow down, advance layer by layer!”

”Roar!”

Following Belgar’s instructions, the Dwarf Expeditionary Army fortified their positions, continuously constructing fortifications and advancing layer by layer to stabilize the situation.

However, the dwarfs’ fatal issue remained unresolved; slow speed meant failing to catch up, and their sluggishness caused Belgar’s army to lose initiative, shifting the combat initiative from the dwarfs to the green-skins.

This was Scasnik’s plan; amid the harassment by Goblin Squig Riders and Goblin Wolf Riders, the dwarf army dared not leave the protection range of their musketeers, Rangers, and cannons.

Now, the dwarfs had begun to become passive on the battlefield.

With Goblin Wolf Riders pestering on the periphery, the Dwarf Expeditionary Army was suppressed within their fortifications. Their coordination faltered, while Goblin Dive Bombers, using flatus sprites in catapults outfitted with makeshift sail wings, flew overhead, steering themselves to perform suicidal attacks with explosives, shattering the dwarfs’ defensive works.

This unexpected move caught the dwarfs by surprise; unable to leave their fortifications, they were clueless about the outside situation. After days of fierce battle, the Dwarf Expeditionary Army’s morale dwindled, their advancement slowed, and their ammunition began to dwindle.

Even worse, complaints arose within many dwarf armies; they felt dwarven glory was not hiding behind fortifications but should be brave enough to go out and face the green-skins one-on-one. As the war dragged on, this sentiment grew within the dwarven army, revealing the weakness of Belgar’s formed Expeditionary Army to Scasnik.

That weakness was internal dissent.

Belgar’s Expeditionary Army mainly consisted of refugees from the Angland Clan and warriors from other kingdoms. For the Angland Clan refugees, they had a deep-seated enmity with the green-skins, and they could not endure hiding behind fortifications for long.