Already Defeated
Surrounded by his personal guards and senior officers, Harald hurriedly retreated down the rugged mountain path.
His face was ashen, and every step he took felt like he was walking on burning coals, filled with resentment and violence.
Just now, standing on the gun emplacement, he almost saw the dawn of victory!
To the east, that damned Friedrich, though brave, was being suppressed by the elite Tiger Corps led by Asgeir and several sorcerers including Elaine. His golden Battle Qi aura had dimmed significantly, his momentum was completely halted, and he even faced several close calls, seemingly about to be worn down and killed in that mountain of corpses and sea of blood!
However, at this critical moment, a figure appeared without warning in the sky above the center of the battlefield!
The man was dressed in a mage's robe, his face hidden in the shadow of his hood, yet he exuded a powerful and chilling aura of Magic Power!
He didn't even chant a lengthy incantation; with a simple gesture, an invisible yet immense power erupted, blasting away the dozen Sauron elite warriors who were besieging Friedrich like falling leaves!
"It's him!!" Harald instantly recalled the intelligence brought back by the remnants of the Sparrow Corps, and the fear and warnings that Sorcerer Thor had given this person!
The powerful mage who single-handedly defeated Hermod and severely damaged the Sparrow Corps's siege force! He actually... appeared here! At this most crucial moment!
Konrad von Schmidt!
The emergence of this variable has completely shattered the balance of the eastern battlefield! With such strong reinforcements, Friedrich's pressure has been greatly reduced, and he may even launch a counterattack! And Elaine and the other sorcerers are clearly no match for that Rune mage!
However, misfortune never comes singly! Almost simultaneously with the dramatic reversal in the east...
"Boom!"
"Kill! Freedom!"
"Let's fight those Sauron Barbarians!"
A more chaotic and violent uproar, like a flood bursting its banks, suddenly erupted from the west side of the camp, near the slave concentration area!
The sounds were no longer those of armies clashing, but rather the desperate cries, frantic roars, and hysterical sounds of destruction from countless people!
Harald's heart sank; his worst fears had come true!
He looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the western camp was already ablaze with flames and billowing smoke! The more than 30,000 Broomflower slaves, who had been under strict guard, were obviously provoked by the sudden attack from both inside and outside and the extreme chaos in the camp. They seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and launched a large-scale uprising and riot!
They smashed their shackles, seized weapons from their guards, and stormed the Sauron camp like madmen, attacking any Sauron soldier they could find!
These slaves harbored a deep-seated hatred for the Sauron. They did not want to be taken back to the Northern Territory to be enslaved for generations. At this moment, their desire to survive and their rage for revenge completely ignited them!
Their riot was like pouring a bucket of cold water into a boiling oil pan, instantly pushing the chaos into an abyss of complete loss of control!
"It's over..." Harald's heart sank, and a chill instantly spread throughout his body.
Strong reinforcements have suddenly arrived from the east, and the knights are about to counterattack; a slave revolt has broken out in the west, and the rear is on fire; the elite Fran City are constantly attacking the central army from the southwest; and on the mountaintop, Carnford... although it is ablaze, the fate of that damned Karl is still unknown!
Variables! Too many variables!
Every variable was pushing the battle in an extremely unfavorable direction for him! His meticulously planned strategy had completely collapsed! A strong sense of foreboding, like a cold, venomous snake, tightly coiled around his heart.
He might... no, not might, but very likely... lose this war!
No, perhaps more accurately, he has already lost!
Even if he can barely hold his ground now and even repel these surprise attacks, the price he has paid for this battle—the casualties of more than five thousand elite soldiers, the consumption of countless supplies, and the severe blow to morale—has far exceeded the bottom line he can accept!
This war, which aimed to quickly plunder and intimidate the Northern Territory of the Broomflower, has turned into a complete mess. Regardless of whether they ultimately capture Carnford, it is a total defeat for Harald's prestige and the strength of Sauron army!
"Karl von Schmidt ..." Harald spat out the name through gritted teeth, his voice filled with endless resentment and murderous intent, "It's all because of you! Because of this damned little place!"
"You'd better... be dead in that fire! Otherwise, I, Harald, swear to the heavens, one day I will lead my army to raze this place to the ground again and tear you to pieces to vent my hatred!"
However angry he was, the crisis before him had to be dealt with immediately.
Staying on the mountain was pointless and could even lead to a counterattack by the enemy cutting off their retreat.
"Give the order!" Harald forcefully suppressed his surging blood, his voice icy and ruthless, carrying a sense of desperation. "The entire army, under alternating cover, retreat northwards! Abandon all unnecessary supplies!"
"The Asgeir tribe will cover the rear and hold off the pursuers at all costs! The Svein tribe will suppress the slave revolt with all its might; any who resist will be killed without mercy! All tribes, move towards the designated assembly points!"
The order was quickly relayed, and Sauron army completely abandoned the offensive and entered a full-scale retreat.
Harald turned back one last time, giving Carnford Castle, which was faintly visible amidst the smoke, a look of resentment before turning away and, under the protection of his guards, fleeing desperately down the mountain.
Despite the sudden attack from both inside and outside and the resulting chaos, Harald's Sauron army was, after all, a battle-hardened elite force from the Northern Territory.
After the initial panic and confusion, as Harald issued clear and ruthless orders, this massive war machine began to demonstrate its resilience and efficiency.
The first thing to be quickly suppressed was the slave revolt that broke out on the west side of the camp.
Although these captured Broomflower people were numerous and filled with a longing for freedom and hatred for the Sauron, they lacked organization and were poorly equipped. Their will to resist stemmed more from the instinct for survival than from a planned uprising.
When Svein detached a portion of the Bear Corps's elite troops, driven like ferocious demons by the blades of the Supervisory team, the fragile resistance crumbled instantly.
The Sauron soldier showed no mercy, slaughtering any slave who dared to take up arms; the bloody massacre quickly extinguished any flames of resistance.
Faced with the threat of death, most slaves quickly chose to kneel and surrender, returning to slavery.
Only a few daring and clever individuals managed to escape the camp in the chaos and flee into the distant forest, leaving the Sauron no time to pursue them.