Two machines moved towards the trench, under the gaze of the warriors in defensive positions. As the machines approached, Dimitri did not take his attention off them for a second. When the mechanical devices reached the trench, the merchant was able to clearly identify their types.
He shouted with joy, "These are Supply-type mechanical devices!"
The war mechanics in this world were divided into three types. These devices, which served in wars as Attack, Defense, and Supply types, provided a contribution equivalent to a thousand warriors, depending on their purpose. The machines that came next to the trench threw their metal legs to the opposite side of the pit. These devices, which also secured one of their legs to their current location, formed two bridges over the trench that the bandits could cross.
Following the formation of the bridges, a panic broke out among the orc warriors. Kızılkuyruk, seeing the orcs scattering left and right with their shields in their hands, burst into contemptuous laughter.
"A handful of savage creatures, look at the state of them. They probably thought those pits they made would protect them forever; send the second group quickly!"
Kızılkuyruk sent another group of one thousand men over the established bridges into the tribe, aiming to finish off the scattered enemy in one move. As a result of his experience from so many wars, he saw a perfect opportunity to crush the enemy right now.
As the bandits began to enter the tribe, Sasha whispered into the merchant's ear, "Master, isn't it time for us to leave now?"
Dimitri, sharing his apprentice's concerns, conveyed his wish to leave to Alyon.
"Chief Alyon, although your plan destroyed one-third of the bandit group, they still have twice as many warriors as you, and they have now entered the tribe. Please come with us!"
"Dimitri, I see you still think these bandits are only here for us." Alyon, wearied by the merchant's insistence, began to explain everything.
"While the bandits were following you from half a day away, my scouts were also watching them. We knew the number of their warriors and the nature of their mechanical devices well in advance. Just as I knew they would cross our trenches with their Supply-type machines, I also knew they could stop you with the Defense-type machine hidden behind the hill."
The events that had happened since they entered the tent were entirely planned to prevent them from leaving early. He was just now realizing that thanks to Sasha's fainting and the feast prepared for him, he had been saved from falling into the bandits' trap.
Dimitri spoke with great shame. "Chief Alyon, I don't know what to say in the face of your noble actions. Please accept my sincere apologies."
"These are matters not worth discussing; let's focus on our future business relationship." When Alyon finished his words, he made a fist gesture with his hand to Domuzkuyruk.
As the last remaining bandits were crossing the mechanical bridges, Domuzkuyruk shouted to the orc warriors. "Shields up, form a corridor!"
The orcs scattering left and right immediately gathered upon hearing the command, forming a wall of shields to the right and left of the mechanical bridges. With the completion of the walls, the leather parts of the four tents near the Chief were torn, revealing the gigantic slingshots inside.
"Target the mechanical devices! Fire at will!"
The slingshots that appeared suddenly were about 3 orc heights tall. The upper part of these slingshots, which were driven into the ground with a single shaft, was shaped like two long sides rising from the sides of a large base. At the end of the elastic part, made of the hides and tendons of wild creatures, there were enormous rocks.
The targets of the shots fired simultaneously from the four slingshots were the machines serving as bridges. As a result of the rocks launched from the slingshots stretched by six orcs, the mechanical bridges' legs took heavy damage. As the bridges with broken legs collapsed with a loud noise, about a thousand bandits caught between the two shield walls were in astonishment.
"The slingshots turned out to be more useful than I expected. It's a pity that the material they are made of is not of higher quality; they become unusable after just one shot."
While Alyon was beginning to explain how they made the slingshots to the merchant and his apprentice, the archers behind the shield walls were raining death upon the bandits.
Kızılkuyruk had seen with his own eyes the orcs scattering in fear and had thought his victory was certain when sending the second group. Witnessing his men dying one by one due to the unexpected turn of events, he came right up to the trenches and shouted.
"What are you waiting for, you idiots? Continue to charge forward. I will make anyone who brings me the heads of the orc and the merchant on the hill my right-hand man."
The soldiers of the first wave he sent were either new recruits or incompetent enough to be always expendable, but this second group consisted of experienced warriors who had fought with him for many years. The loss of even one of them meant the weakening of his total fighting strength.
With their retreat paths destroyed and their lives in danger from the arrows coming from the sides, the bandits began to charge toward the Chief's tent. The position promised by their Chief raised their fighting spirit to the highest degree. Interestingly, although they couldn't escape anywhere, there seemed to be no obstacle preventing them from reaching the top of the hill, except for the tents in front of them.
Domuzkuyruk, who was carefully following the bandits' movements, turned to about twenty orcs standing beside him and said, "The time has come; to your posts!"
As these orcs began to rush down the hill toward the bandits, they suddenly stopped when they reached the front tents. The sight that appeared when they started tearing the tents was one that the bandits would not appreciate at all. Huge rocks were secured with crossed planks, and when the orcs removed the planks, the rocks began to roll down onto the bandits charging uphill.
The rocks released one after another were rapidly moving down the corridor created between the trench and the Chief's tent. The rocks, crushing the bandits in their path, fell on top of the bandits who tried to escape by jumping into the trench, thus filling the pits. For the trapped bandits, there was no option but death; they would either be crushed by the rolling rocks or flee to the sides and taste the orcs' axes.
"Chief, what a magnificent maneuver; you caught the enemy off guard once again." Sasha, who was an apprentice-level warrior in addition to being a merchant's apprentice, could not hide how impressed he was by what he saw.
"Preventing the enemy's first wave attack by digging the trench was my idea. I thought these bandits, who believe orcs have low intelligence, would attack without hesitation, but what happened after the mechanical bridges were established is Nafız's work."
"She told me about a tactic during the war meeting. When we adapted this tactic, which involves feigning defeat and drawing back to surround the enemy, to our situation, it proved to be very useful."
After hearing what the Chief explained, Sasha could not suppress the surging curiosity within him. "Chief Alyon, do you happen to know the name of this maneuver?"
"Nafız calls this maneuver the Turan Tactic; she said it is a very ancient tactic."
While the group sitting at the top of the terrain continued their conversation, cold winds were blowing on the Red Storm side.
"In such a short time, I've lost almost all my men. How could a tiny orc tribe make such preparations?" Kızılkuyruk was shouting angrily at his subordinates while looking at the corpses inside the trench filled with rocks.
"Since this has come this far, we cannot turn back now. Commander Anton, please help us." The chief of the bandits spoke with pleading eyes, turning to the man sitting calmly on the side, who was wearing a purple steel armor that covered his entire body.
The man named Anton slowly rose from his seat, putting the sword he had leaned against the nearby rock back into its scabbard. Amidst the bandit's desperate gaze, and without even condescending to answer him, he shouted toward the hill where the Defense-type mechanical device was hidden.
"Purple Rhino Warriors, take position for the attack!"