Chapter 62 Labor People_1
Stakes Castle was a military fortress established by the Wildland Orcs atop the Wildwind Highlands. Its function was to use the Malevolent Wolf Cavalry stationed within to counter the advancing Human Fortress Cluster of the Silvermane Principality.
The Malevolent Wolf Cavalry was the third-tier troop of the Orc Race, consisting of Big-eared monster riders mounted on wolves.
The Big-eared monsters were short in stature, and their wolves were about the size of ponies. On the Wildwind Highlands, strewn with grasslands and forests, the Malevolent Wolf Cavalry were more easily concealed than Human Cavalry. They were ideal for guerrilla warfare.
The extensive patrols and raids by the Malevolent Wolf Cavalry made it difficult for humans to continue building fortresses towards the Orc Controlled Area. This effectively thwarted the human tactic of using fortress clusters to gradually encroach on Orc territory.
These tactics also led to heavy casualties among the Malevolent Wolf Cavalry and consumed vast amounts of supplies.
Although the wolves were omnivores and didn’t require meat at every meal, they had enormous appetites, keeping the food reserves of Stakes Castle hovering around the critical level.
So, when a human mercenary brought news of a human territory storing large amounts of food with sparse defenses, Chief Little Lillia, the Big-eared monster hero and master of Stakes Castle, immediately became interested.
Marquis Anderson had built numerous small fortresses in the central Wildwind Highlands. These fortresses weren’t large, each garrisoning fewer than a hundred soldiers, sometimes perhaps only a dozen.
Their purpose was to mount a layered defense if they sighted large-scale movements of Orc or Elf troops. They would then use signal fires to notify the rear to prepare for war.
The main Human Army was stationed in cities behind the Human Fortress Cluster. Good logistical support in these cities allowed the army to maintain combat readiness for extended periods.
The main Orc army’s movements could not escape the surveillance of the Human Fortress Cluster. However, small units, especially the swift and stealthy Malevolent Wolf Cavalry, could slip through gaps in the fortress line at night. Passage was even safer if human sympathizers guided them.