Chapter 22
Signs of [twenty two]
Luuk saw the men preparing for the onslaught of his troops. He saw another groups start running off to the south. His scouts reported to him another group had left as well moving east. He knew he had them on the run, they were trying to by time for other groups to get away to the south.
This was the smallest of the groups his legion was tracking. The other groups that had escaped over the walls of the old base were not splitting up. They gathered men as they went south. They moved slowly. The set up camps. Luuk could sweep into them and destroy them at his leisure. This group however moved fast. Only fought when it had to and never rested unless it was safe to do so.
Luuk thought that his group was probably led by one of his officers. Beckmin had died. He had seen him in one of his undead units a few days back. He was missing a considerable parts of his anatomy but Luuk knew it was him. Maybe Greg was leading this group. Luuk shook his head. He sometimes forgot who was dead and who was alive. Freeman. Freeman was most likely the leader of this unit.
He sent his undead minions against the fortified formations in the valley below. He knew just throwing men at the enemy was not the way to efficiently win a battle but he had learned the limitations of his forces. He had no artillery. Only a small number of his forces could move at faster than a walk. It had taken him days to realize he could not expect his men to handle even the most rudimentary tools and weapons.
He watched as his men fought his enemy below. The carnage was tremendous. The undead were being butchered. Luuk grimaced. Just days before he would never have accepted these kind of losses. But he knew that his undead were wounding the warriors below. It would be only a matter of time before the wound took their toll. Luuk had come to realize he could use another strategy. He could throw his men away in hopeless attacks like this because as his enemies died they became part of his legion. He still could not predict when they would become mindless automations like Quinn, or speaking thinking creatures like Adams.
Luuk watched for signs to that mystery all the time. Once he knew how to produce them he wanted many more like Adams and far fewer like Quinn. The simple undead were unskilled and were only valuable in large numbers. The quicker Adams were still all but impervious to damage but could use simple weapons. If he had just a few units of the more agile undead Luuk could have swept up these men who set up a defensive position at the low point of the valley. If you were fighting anything but there slow stupid undead, that position would men a pretty spectacular death.
His latest wave had been repelled. Again. He watched as the men contracted there line. Focusing their effective fighting to a tight ball that the undead would not be able to breach. Luuk decided to test their resolve. The men that had fled to the south must be at least two thousand paces away by now. If he were able to push this group just a bit they might break formation. That would allow his undead to crush the stragglers and chase the rest south.
It was an odd race they were having and Luuk was winning. It did not look like it but every farm his undead visited meant that more people dead and more undead added ot his army. If his human enemy get to the farm first it meant more people heading south feeding the panic that made his job all the easier. It was far easier to defeat a panicked population than a calm one. Plus if the human army was recruiting men form the farms they were just delivering him soldiers he could kill and then control after they died.
He sent another wave down into the alley but had them stop just beyond the reach of the massed force in the valley floor. He watched the reaction of the men. Just as he thought, just as he hoped, they broke formation and rushed into the undead force. The undead died as usual, but they too far more of the men with them.
Luuk sent another two groups of undead into the valley. Again they stopped just short of the humans. This time when the humans broke formations the undead pushed into the humans. Getting through the front lines and wreaking havoc on the supporting troops. This time the humans died and dies and died. By the time the undead had all been dispatched the humans had lost half their number.
Who ever was in charge down there was panicking or was dead and the second in command was in over his head. Either was t was time to end this battle. Luuk sent the remainder of his force into the valley. The leader of the humans must have been smart enough to count because his entire force fled to the south. Luuk was impressed they turned and jogged to the south still in formations. Luuk had his troops follow them at best speed. The humans quickly out paced the undead. But Luuk knew they would have to rest. Most likely soon after the long battle that they had fought with his undead.
Luuk thought a command to another group of undead that was near here. That group started south as well to join with this group and crush the humans when they stopped to rest. The mentally checked in with the other groups hunting the south. The news was generally good. Most groups continued to find farms and villages that we occupied. The human armies were easy to track and generally easy to fight. Luuks forces did not need food or water. His enemy did, and usually both were in short supply. Luuk had given standing orders to destroy supplied whenever possible. It didn't take a lot of effort and it only weakend the enemy both physically and emotionally.
All to soon the human force gathered in another clearing and formed up to defned against an attack. Luuks force again attacked. Again the undead stopped just outside the reach of the humans in the front rank. This time the humans did not break rank.
Luuk had thought the leader was panicked but it looked like he was doing just fine kepping his men from charging out again. Luuk got another group into place and started to push the remaining humans. The undead had the humans on the defensive and Luuk wanted to push the advantage. He kept attacking and withdrawing his forces. Just when it looked like he had committed his troops. Just when the humans started to react to his latest push he would pull back the creatures. He was trying to tire out the humans, he had reinforcements on the way. The humans did not.
Luuk waited until the humans started to look fatigued. They were changing the frnt line formation far too often. Luuk could feel his reinforcements were still a hour away so he decided he would push the attack and see if his current force could destroy this remnant of a human legion.
His first attack was repelled. As was the second. Luuk withdrew the third wave a couple of times before finally driving it deep into the human forces. Luuk finally saw the weakness he needed to defeat this group of humans. They were protecting their leader, ringing him with steel.
That was the mistake in planning by the humans that Luuk was looking for. Luuk sent another two groups down to attack the humans. One pressed into the center to attack the leader. As the human forces shifted the defense to meet the first attack group the over force attacked. It took only a few minutes and the humans were again fleeing and Luuk was again persuing but the humans now numbers less than thirty. Luuk allowed himself to smile, this battle was over the humans just hadn't admitted it yet. Luuk sent another group to tracking the humans. They were in full flight now. And the next time Luuk caught them they would not be able to flee again. The humans had held up pretty good but when Luuks reinforcements arrived, that meant the humans were outnumbered approximately six to one.
It took less than an hour to completely destroy the last of this human fighting force. Luuk was impressed he lost fewer and fewer attackers as he developed tactics to use with his undead warriors. The next order of business was to start tracking down the other human armies in the area. Luuk received a mental report that another group human had been found to the west. A very large group. Most likely more humans that had escaped the battle at the base camp.
Luuk saw the men preparing for the onslaught of his troops. He saw another groups start running off to the south. His scouts reported to him another group had left as well moving east. He knew he had them on the run, they were trying to by time for other groups to get away to the south.
This was the smallest of the groups his legion was tracking. The other groups that had escaped over the walls of the old base were not splitting up. They gathered men as they went south. They moved slowly. The set up camps. Luuk could sweep into them and destroy them at his leisure. This group however moved fast. Only fought when it had to and never rested unless it was safe to do so.
Luuk thought that his group was probably led by one of his officers. Beckmin had died. He had seen him in one of his undead units a few days back. He was missing a considerable parts of his anatomy but Luuk knew it was him. Maybe Greg was leading this group. Luuk shook his head. He sometimes forgot who was dead and who was alive. Freeman. Freeman was most likely the leader of this unit.
He sent his undead minions against the fortified formations in the valley below. He knew just throwing men at the enemy was not the way to efficiently win a battle but he had learned the limitations of his forces. He had no artillery. Only a small number of his forces could move at faster than a walk. It had taken him days to realize he could not expect his men to handle even the most rudimentary tools and weapons.
He watched as his men fought his enemy below. The carnage was tremendous. The undead were being butchered. Luuk grimaced. Just days before he would never have accepted these kind of losses. But he knew that his undead were wounding the warriors below. It would be only a matter of time before the wound took their toll. Luuk had come to realize he could use another strategy. He could throw his men away in hopeless attacks like this because as his enemies died they became part of his legion. He still could not predict when they would become mindless automations like Quinn, or speaking thinking creatures like Adams.
Luuk watched for signs to that mystery all the time. Once he knew how to produce them he wanted many more like Adams and far fewer like Quinn. The simple undead were unskilled and were only valuable in large numbers. The quicker Adams were still all but impervious to damage but could use simple weapons. If he had just a few units of the more agile undead Luuk could have swept up these men who set up a defensive position at the low point of the valley. If you were fighting anything but there slow stupid undead, that position would men a pretty spectacular death.
His latest wave had been repelled. Again. He watched as the men contracted there line. Focusing their effective fighting to a tight ball that the undead would not be able to breach. Luuk decided to test their resolve. The men that had fled to the south must be at least two thousand paces away by now. If he were able to push this group just a bit they might break formation. That would allow his undead to crush the stragglers and chase the rest south.
It was an odd race they were having and Luuk was winning. It did not look like it but every farm his undead visited meant that more people dead and more undead added ot his army. If his human enemy get to the farm first it meant more people heading south feeding the panic that made his job all the easier. It was far easier to defeat a panicked population than a calm one. Plus if the human army was recruiting men form the farms they were just delivering him soldiers he could kill and then control after they died.
He sent another wave down into the alley but had them stop just beyond the reach of the massed force in the valley floor. He watched the reaction of the men. Just as he thought, just as he hoped, they broke formation and rushed into the undead force. The undead died as usual, but they too far more of the men with them.
Luuk sent another two groups of undead into the valley. Again they stopped just short of the humans. This time when the humans broke formations the undead pushed into the humans. Getting through the front lines and wreaking havoc on the supporting troops. This time the humans died and dies and died. By the time the undead had all been dispatched the humans had lost half their number.
Who ever was in charge down there was panicking or was dead and the second in command was in over his head. Either was t was time to end this battle. Luuk sent the remainder of his force into the valley. The leader of the humans must have been smart enough to count because his entire force fled to the south. Luuk was impressed they turned and jogged to the south still in formations. Luuk had his troops follow them at best speed. The humans quickly out paced the undead. But Luuk knew they would have to rest. Most likely soon after the long battle that they had fought with his undead.
Luuk thought a command to another group of undead that was near here. That group started south as well to join with this group and crush the humans when they stopped to rest. The mentally checked in with the other groups hunting the south. The news was generally good. Most groups continued to find farms and villages that we occupied. The human armies were easy to track and generally easy to fight. Luuks forces did not need food or water. His enemy did, and usually both were in short supply. Luuk had given standing orders to destroy supplied whenever possible. It didn't take a lot of effort and it only weakend the enemy both physically and emotionally.
All to soon the human force gathered in another clearing and formed up to defned against an attack. Luuks force again attacked. Again the undead stopped just outside the reach of the humans in the front rank. This time the humans did not break rank.
Luuk had thought the leader was panicked but it looked like he was doing just fine kepping his men from charging out again. Luuk got another group into place and started to push the remaining humans. The undead had the humans on the defensive and Luuk wanted to push the advantage. He kept attacking and withdrawing his forces. Just when it looked like he had committed his troops. Just when the humans started to react to his latest push he would pull back the creatures. He was trying to tire out the humans, he had reinforcements on the way. The humans did not.
Luuk waited until the humans started to look fatigued. They were changing the frnt line formation far too often. Luuk could feel his reinforcements were still a hour away so he decided he would push the attack and see if his current force could destroy this remnant of a human legion.
His first attack was repelled. As was the second. Luuk withdrew the third wave a couple of times before finally driving it deep into the human forces. Luuk finally saw the weakness he needed to defeat this group of humans. They were protecting their leader, ringing him with steel.
That was the mistake in planning by the humans that Luuk was looking for. Luuk sent another two groups down to attack the humans. One pressed into the center to attack the leader. As the human forces shifted the defense to meet the first attack group the over force attacked. It took only a few minutes and the humans were again fleeing and Luuk was again persuing but the humans now numbers less than thirty. Luuk allowed himself to smile, this battle was over the humans just hadn't admitted it yet. Luuk sent another group to tracking the humans. They were in full flight now. And the next time Luuk caught them they would not be able to flee again. The humans had held up pretty good but when Luuks reinforcements arrived, that meant the humans were outnumbered approximately six to one.
It took less than an hour to completely destroy the last of this human fighting force. Luuk was impressed he lost fewer and fewer attackers as he developed tactics to use with his undead warriors. The next order of business was to start tracking down the other human armies in the area. Luuk received a mental report that another group human had been found to the west. A very large group. Most likely more humans that had escaped the battle at the base camp.
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