"A bunch of bastards! A bunch of sons of bitches!" Cumberland, riding on horseback, was furious, leading the Twilight Knights into the forest: "When I catch up with them, I'll cut off all their legs and make those arrogant idiots bedridden for the rest of their lives!"

"Commander! We're approaching the forest!"

The adjutant's words calmed Cumberland down slightly, and he used the Hive to order his knights, "All men, prepare to dismount! Raise your shields and advance!"

The Valkyries circled above the knights' heads, while the griffins, watching the smoke rising from the distant forest, let out excited cries.

Cumberland dismounted, drew his longsword from his horse's belly, and took down his kite-shaped shield. He said to his adjutant, "Tell those stupid women in the sky to shut those hairy beasts up! Also, without my order, they are not to descend to engage in battle!"

The adjutant lifted the visor of his helmet, spread his arms, and stood in front of Cumberland: "Commander! You are the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force; you should not put yourself in danger!"

Cumberland kicked his adjutant in the stomach and yelled, "Get out of the way!"

Seeing his adjutant fall to the ground, Cumberland strode into the forest, muttering in a voice only he could hear, "If things get out of control, how am I supposed to explain this to His Majesty...?"

Based on the defensive deployment information provided by the scouts, the knights set off along a pre-arranged route toward the nearest small outpost of the enemy.

A dozen minutes later, Ackerman caught up with five hundred Crusaders.

As the commander of the Crusades, Ackerman walked up to Cumberland, looking ashamed and hesitant to speak.

Cumberland walked past Ackerman and said in a deep voice, "We'll talk about it when we get back."

The Knights and the Crusaders joined forces, numbering over a thousand.

With the addition of soldiers skilled in reconnaissance, the troops' marching speed increased significantly, and they quickly arrived at the first outpost.

The battle there had ended long ago.

Human limbs were scattered everywhere, and even the treetops had intestines still dripping blood; tents were torn to shreds by the immense force and scattered around the outposts; wooden watchtowers were overturned from the bottom and crashed onto the forest floor.

Ackerman, accompanied by several Crusader scouts, circled the battlefield before returning to Cumberland's side and whispering, "We only saw enemy corpses; we found no remains of our own."

Cumberland pointed angrily at the ground and said, "The orcs took advantage of the enemy's midday rest to launch a surprise attack. Look at these marks on the ground. They first rushed out of the forest, knocked down the sentry towers, and then charged towards the campfire. Before the enemy could even fire, they engaged in close combat."

Ackerman, observing Cumberland's expression, cautiously probed, "So, they achieved a perfect victory?"

"Perfect my ass!" Cumberland roared, pointing his sword at a trail of hoofprints to the north of the camp. "These idiots only thought about killing the enemy, but they completely forgot the most basic thing: sealing off the exit! Two enemy cavalrymen, no, three cavalrymen, took advantage of a lull in the fighting and escaped from here on horseback!"

"Even a fool could guess that these three who escaped the net must have gone to warn the surrounding enemy forces!"

Cumberland slammed his fist on a nearby wooden stake: "The most troublesome thing is that if those brainless orcs suffer some casualties from the muskets here, they might start to assess the enemy's strength and consider whether to retreat..."

"However, the one-sided slaughter made them proud and arrogant, thinking that the enemy was nothing special. The orcs, not satisfied with a small victory, would definitely set their sights on more conspicuous targets nearby, using their so-called strength to gain bullshit honor!"

Ackerman, his face pale, said, "So you mean... the orcs will continue their advance?"

"Letting the enemy cavalry escape, continuing to advance recklessly without reinforcements, lacking even the most basic vigilance and attentiveness towards the enemy, and being blinded by arrogance!" Cumberland gripped his sword tightly and shouted, "If we cannot come to the aid of these orcs as soon as possible, I swear, a crushing defeat awaits them."

Ackerman's eyes widened, and he turned around to ask loudly, "Besides those small outposts, what direction is the nearest enemy camp?"

Randall, who had accompanied him on the expedition, pulled out a parchment map he carried with him and pointed to the hilly area to the northeast: "Deer Hill Camp, that's a large enemy military camp, 3,700 meters from here, with about 2,200 enemy troops stationed there..."

No sooner had he finished speaking than deafening gunfire erupted from the northeast, and thick smoke once again filled the sky.

Cumberland raised his shield, struck the shield with the back of his sword, and shouted, "Everyone, hold the line and advance to the northeast!"

When the Knights of Twilight and the Crusaders arrived at Deer Hill on the map, an extremely brutal battle scene unfolded before their eyes.

The orc army had breached the enemy camp's simple stone walls, and the orcs only needed to advance another hundred meters to reach the center of the enemy camp. However, three triangular bunkers, forming a tight network of fire with muskets and cannons, firmly held the fearless orc army at a distance of fifty meters.

An orc captain, clad in iron armor and wielding a flail and tower shield, led six of his people as they slowly approached, shouting the name of the dragon god.

The muskets on the bunker spewed fire, firing lead bullets the size of pigeon eggs at the invading orcs.

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