The Enemy at Dusk (1): Kudell's Resolve

At Position Nine, the great evacuation from Blackflame Pass was underway in a tense rush. There were a little over thirteen thousand people at this position, counting both recruits and soldiers. Including the 5,500 from the Plantagenet Kingdom and several thousand players, the permanent garrison at Blackflame Pass had numbered over twenty thousand.

But now, fewer than eight thousand could be gathered here.

The rest had either gone missing when the ratmen collapsed the position earlier or were still holding Position Eight against the gnolls and kobolds. Murphy had learned from the constantly updated posts on the player forums that over a thousand trapped NPCs had escaped through the ratmen's tunnels with Old Qin and the others, but casualties still stood at nearly forty percent.

This was far beyond a mere crippling blow.

In the armies of this age, such casualties would absolutely trigger a morale penalty that could send the entire army into a rout. The fact that the forces at Blackflame Pass were still holding out was due not only to the retainers' fighting spirit, but also to the gnolls' relentless pressure. They had been driven into a corner where they had to fight or die.

This was no time to break.

Commanders of every rank knew that if they gave up now, it would all be over.

The earth priests were still frantically transporting supplies and people. The earthwalking spell granted by the Earth Mother proved remarkably effective in this situation, while the retainers withdrew overland under their commanders' direction. Those units that had suffered heavy losses withdrew first; the formations that remained intact stayed behind, ready to hold off the gnolls whenever they charged again.

The clerks were tallying the numbers and treating the wounded, while a crowd of newbie players took advantage of the opportunity