Sacrifice Some Things for Greater Gains

A month before the blizzard arrived, the orcs had already prepared for their attack. This would be their final military operation of the winter.

The divination results were in. They would win and take this city.

Great Moon Chieftain personally led the force, bringing along the kings of many small tribes to attack.

Several thousand troops stretched out in a dark, teeming mass. The sight alone was enough to make one tremble.

Lynn immediately ordered bricks used to block the City Gate, sealing off the entire city completely.

A siege was not something decided in a single battle, but a long-term war. At this point, they could still hold out under siege for a while.

The werewolf chieftain's adviser said, "Chieftain, there are no Magic Runes on these walls. We can keep throwing stones to wear them down."

"Mm. Let's first see how strong this human city's defenses are."

On the first day of the siege, the orcs sent several hundred men carrying stones to attack the city walls.

The humans responded just as directly—with a Javelin Rain.

The javelin rain from several hundred men kept the orcs from freely throwing stones to wear them down.

Who knew how many javelins the humans had stockpiled?

On the second day of the siege, the orcs began building siege engines and battering rams.

Gray, who had been driven half-mad from being cooped up in the city, impatiently asked, "Grand Commander Lynn, when can we use the explosives?"

The explosives were so powerful, yet Lynn had always refused to let them use them. It was driving them mad.

Before, he could still blame the production limits of Black powder. Now they had even developed Slime magic core gunpowder, yet he still would not let them use it.

"Gray, let me ask you something. Why do you think the Dragon Race, which once unified the world, was destroyed and could only huddle in one corner? The Empire is powerful, yet why can the Devil Race in the west, the orcs in the north, the Goblins in the south, and the kingdoms in the west still constantly harass the Empire?"

"Because the Empire isn't strong enough?"

"No. It's because the other side is still alive!" Lynn pointed at the flags on the sand table. "Today, you defeat them and capture them. The next day, they pay a ransom, then turn around and raise another army."

Lynn picked up the orcs' flag and placed it farther back. "After defeating an enemy, everyone thinks of signing a treaty. But have you ever wondered why the Empire and the kingdoms are always fighting, then stopping, then fighting again, even though the Empire's front lines have advanced hundreds of miles over the centuries?"

"This is a war between nobles. Even wars between different races are merely fought until the other side submits." Lynn snapped the orcs' flag in half, then crushed it into powder in his hand. "If you want to maintain your rule once and for all, you must make long-term plans."

"That means killing them. Kill them all. Wipe out all their effective strength, so they can never rise again for all eternity."

"It is winter now. The orcs attacking the city is a perfect opportunity to slaughter them. But before that, I don't want them scattering in all directions out of fear of explosives."

"The best outcome is for them to attack—to commit everything they have to the assault!"

Lynn's words sent chills down everyone's spines.

In truth, there were still things Lynn had not said, such as policies of massacre and plague.

But current science and technology were not advanced enough. Those things were still too far away.

Doing whatever it took to achieve one's goals—that was what made a war criminal.

Lynn had been in a constant state of anxiety before, because of the threats outside and the clash of all kinds of values. After using every possible method to deceive himself, Lynn finally remembered why war criminals had no psychological burden.

That damned game Frostpunk would only ask whether all this was worth it.

But a war criminal game would only find excuses for you.

If you wanted to ban industrialization, it would say, "Industrialization is detrimental to people's enthusiasm for labor."

If you wanted to enslave others, even make the dead work, it would say, "Let the dead continue contributing to the nation."

I, Lynn, am not a war criminal. This is for everyone, for the world.

For progress, let everyone make sacrifices.

Several days passed. The orcs finished their siege equipment and began attacking the city.

The humans' resistance was exceptionally tenacious. The orcs gained absolutely nothing from their first few probing attacks.

When the orcs threw stones, the humans hid and refused to come out.

When the orcs began their assault, the humans deployed Slime Acid.

Ancient sieges were simply that brutal.

The humans suffered heavy casualties, and so did the orcs.

In the end, the orc chieftain still firmly believed in the divination and committed all his forces.

The orcs climbed the city walls like a tidal wave, while the humans continued to resist.

Suddenly, several explosive packs came flying over.

Then, every few seconds, more explosive packs were thrown from behind the city walls.

The Mushroom Clouds created by the explosions stunned everyone.

Could such an attack be from a corps of Magic Masters?

Lynn led his Knights in continuously hurling explosive packs. "They've finally all committed. This orc tribe will no longer be able to fight after this."

Eckley reported the casualties while throwing explosive packs. "But our casualties are severe too, Grand Commander. The earlier reports said that most of our men have already gone down. Only a little over two hundred remain on the walls. The other eight hundred or so have all fallen."

"This is a great victory. After all, they are nomads. If they refused to fight us and kept harassing us instead, that would be the real headache."