Chapter 188: Advance

Chapter 188: Advance

The ogre chief stood on a raised stretch of ground overlooking the frontline while another supply column rolled into the rear camp behind him. Wagons and transport vehicles moved in a steady line between rows of tents, food stores, field kitchens, replacement equipment, and temporary medical stations.

He watched the convoy for several moments before turning back toward the distant Tigran positions. The sight of supplies arriving no longer felt unusual, and that alone told him how much the situation had changed.

Only a short time ago, every large attack had required careful counting. Food had to be stretched, medicine had to be reserved, damaged armor and weapons could not always be replaced quickly, and nobody knew whether the next convoy would arrive on time.

Now another shipment had reached them before the previous one had been fully distributed.

The chief gave a satisfied grunt.

"Tell me that is the last convoy for today."

An officer standing beside him glanced toward the road.

"No, Chief. Another one is scheduled behind it."

The chief turned his head slowly.

"You are serious?"

"Yes. This one carries preserved food, medicine, replacement armor, weapons, tools, and other supplies. The next convoy is supposed to bring more food and materials for the engineers."

The chief stared at him for a moment before breaking into a broad grin.

"So now we have too many supplies."

The officer smiled carefully.

"I would not go that far."

"I would. I have spent enough time being told to wait because somebody lost a wagon, a bridge was damaged, or a convoy never arrived. Let me enjoy this."

"You may enjoy it until the quartermasters begin complaining that they have nowhere left to put everything."

"That is a complaint I am willing to hear every day."

The officer laughed, and the chief turned toward the camp again.

The supply flow was not the only thing that had changed.

Several hundred ogres had arrived that morning from the rear. They were not newly raised recruits or injured soldiers returning to duty. Most of them had been serving along the supply road, guarding warehouses, escorting convoys, holding checkpoints, and protecting transport yards.

Those duties still existed, but fewer ogres were needed for them now.

The small green soldiers had taken over more and more of the corridor behind the frontline.

At first, the chief had not cared who guarded the road as long as his supplies reached him. Then the number of ogres being reassigned forward had started increasing.

He cared very much after that.

Another officer approached from behind and stopped several paces away.

"Chief, the transferred companies have finished reporting in."

"All of them?"

"All of them. The last group reached the eastern camp less than an hour ago."

"How many are fit to fight immediately?"

"Most of them. They have been on rear-security duty, so they are not coming in exhausted from the frontline."

The chief folded his arms.

"That may be the best thing you have told me all week."

The officer handed him a short roster.

"The field commanders divided them between the center and eastern formations as you ordered. A smaller group is staying in reserve."

"Keep the reserve. I do not want every new soldier pushed forward the moment he arrives."

The officer nodded.

"The center commander asked whether he can have the reserve as well."

"Of course he did."

"He said his formation has the best ground for another attack."

"The western commander said the same thing yesterday."

"They both believe they are correct."

"They are both ogres. That means they both believe every problem can be solved by giving them more soldiers."

The officer failed to hide a grin.

The chief looked down at the roster again.

"What about food?"

"Several days already stored here, and more is arriving today."

"Medicine?"

"Better stocked than last week."

"Replacement weapons and armor?"

"Enough to re-equip the men who damaged theirs in the last fighting. The smiths also received more tools and materials."

The chief handed the roster back.

"Then for once, nobody can tell me we have to delay because the rear is empty."

"No, Chief."

The answer pleased him more than he expected.

The frontline had not been collapsing before Eldrath took responsibility for the corridor. The ogres had still been advancing, but each gain had required pauses that gave the Tigrans time to prepare their next defensive line.

A successful attack could leave too many weapons damaged and too many wounded soldiers waiting for proper treatment.

A difficult week could force troops to remain in place because too many ogres had been pulled away to guard the roads behind them.

When a convoy was attacked, the effects were felt far beyond the wagons themselves. Missing food, medicine, replacement weapons, armor, and engineering supplies meant smaller attacks, fewer reserves, slower repairs, and more time for the Tigrans to recover.

The chief had hated every part of it.

Now he had more soldiers than before, more supplies than before, and enough confidence in the road behind him to plan beyond the next day.

He looked toward the distant Tigran positions.

Their defensive line followed a low ridge covered by rough earthworks, fallen timber, and natural stone. Tigran fighters moved between the positions while others remained farther back under the protection of the trees.

An officer followed his gaze.

"They strengthened the center again."

"They had time to."

"They will not have as much this time."

The chief smiled.

"No. They will not."

The officer studied him.

"You want to attack today?"

"I wanted to attack yesterday. Yesterday, I was waiting for the transferred companies."

"They are here now."

"And so are enough supplies to keep the army moving after the first push."

The chief turned away from the ridge.

"Send word to the center and eastern field commanders. We begin as soon as the new companies are in position."

The officer nodded.

"What about the western formation?"

"They press forward enough to keep the Tigrans there. I do not need them breaking through. I need the enemy looking in three directions."

"I will send it."

The officer started to leave, but the chief stopped him.

"And tell the center commander he is not getting the reserve yet."

The officer laughed.

"I will tell him before he asks again."

The chief watched him go before returning his attention to the camp.

Everywhere he looked, the difference was visible.

Ogres who would have been standing guard beside warehouses days earlier were now checking weapons near the front.

Soldiers previously assigned to escort convoys were joining combat companies.

Wagons that once arrived late and half-empty now came in organized groups carrying enough food, medicine, tools, and replacement equipment for the army to keep moving.

The chief had never spoken to the goblin lord responsible for the corridor. He knew only that the small soldiers had arrived, taken responsibility for the road, and somehow turned a constant problem into something he could stop worrying about every hour.

He had initially expected little from them.

They were small, physically weak, and unimpressive beside an ogre.

Then they had taken over the work that had been draining hundreds of his soldiers away from the battlefield.

The chief grunted.

One of the nearby officers heard him.

"Something wrong?"

"No."

"Then why do you look angry?"

"I was thinking about the goblins."

"That would explain it."

The chief gave him a flat look.

The officer raised both hands.

"I meant because you did not like them at first."

"I still do not know if I like them."

"But you like what they are doing."

"I like my supplies arriving."

"And the extra soldiers."

"I especially like the extra soldiers."

The officer nodded solemnly.

"Then perhaps they are growing on you."

"Do not ruin this for me."

The officer laughed and moved away before the chief could answer.

The attack began later that afternoon.

Ogre infantry advanced from the center in thick formations while the eastern units pushed forward several minutes later. The western formation increased its own pressure at the same time, forcing the Tigrans to hold soldiers across the entire ridge.

The chief watched from behind the center formation with several officers around him.

The first Tigran arrows came down as the ogres crossed the open ground.

Ogres raised shields or simply endured the lighter hits. The heavier shots still wounded men, but the formations continued moving.

Then the Tigrans met them directly.

Nature energy spread around the defenders as they left the earthworks and rushed downhill.

The chief narrowed his eyes.

He had seen the effect many times.

Tigrans surrounded by that energy moved faster, struck harder, and endured punishment that should have forced them back.

Against the goblins, that difference had been severe.

Against ogres, it created a far more even contest.

The first lines collided.

An ogre smashed his shield into a charging Tigran and drove him backward before another fighter struck from the side.

A Tigran sword cut into an ogre’s shoulder, but the larger soldier grabbed the attacker before he could retreat and threw him into the ground.

The fight spread along the ridge.

The chief watched the center carefully.

"They are holding."

An officer beside him nodded.

"For now."

"Move the second line closer."

"Already moving."

The chief glanced at him.

"That was fast."

"You have been complaining for three days that everyone waits for you to repeat yourself."

"I complain because it works."

The officer gave no answer to that.

The center formation pressed harder.

Tigrans fought fiercely around the earthworks, using speed to strike and retreat before the heavier ogres could surround them. The ogres answered by keeping closer formations and forcing the defenders into direct fights whenever possible.

The difference came from the depth behind the first line.

When an ogre group slowed, another moved past it.

When weapons broke or shields became unusable, replacements were already being brought forward from the rear.

When wounded soldiers were carried back, they did not leave empty spaces behind them because additional companies were already waiting.

The chief saw it immediately.

The attack was not losing strength after the first collision.

That had happened too often before.

An attack would begin well, the ogres would gain ground, and then the momentum would weaken as the first formations exhausted themselves and replacements failed to arrive quickly enough.

This time the second line reached the ridge while the first was still fighting.

The Tigran defenders began withdrawing from the forward earthworks.

An officer pointed.

"They are leaving the first line."

"Do not let the center chase too far ahead."

"I will warn them."

"Tell the eastern formation to increase pressure now. If the Tigrans are moving troops away from the center, I want the east forcing them to choose where to reinforce."

The order went out.

Within minutes, the eastern fighting intensified.

The chief watched the Tigran line bend backward.

They were not routing.

Their fighters withdrew in groups, covering one another as they moved toward stronger ground farther behind the ridge.

The chief respected that.

"They are pulling back properly."

"Yes."

"They know they cannot hold this ridge."

The officer glanced toward him.

"Do you want to pursue immediately?"

The chief looked behind his own line.

Fresh soldiers were still moving forward.

Supply wagons had already reached the nearest protected position.

A medical station was being established closer to the captured ground.

He smiled.

"Yes."

The officer hesitated.

"Usually you would stop here."

"Usually I would stop because half the reserve is guarding warehouses thirty miles behind us and somebody is telling me the food or medicine will not last through another push."

The officer looked back toward the wagons arriving behind them.

"That is not a problem today."

"No."

The chief pointed toward the withdrawing Tigrans.

"So we do not give them half a day to build another perfect line."

The ogres continued forward.

The second push was smaller but faster.

Instead of reorganizing the entire force, the chief sent the freshest companies through the captured positions while tired units remained behind to secure the ridge.

The Tigrans attempted to hold another rise farther north.

They managed it briefly.

Then the eastern formation arrived against their flank.

The chief could hear the fighting even from his position.

The second Tigran line held for less time than the first.

By late afternoon, the ogres controlled both ridges.

The Tigrans had withdrawn again toward another defensive area in the distance.

The chief finally ordered the advance to stop.

Not because he lacked supplies.

Not because reinforcements were unavailable.

He stopped because the soldiers who had fought most of the day needed time to reorganize.

That difference pleased him.

He walked onto the captured ridge while ogres moved around him carrying replacement weapons, tending the wounded, and clearing damaged defenses.

One of the field commanders approached with dried blood across one side of his armor.

"We could keep pushing."

The chief looked at him.

"You always say that."

"This time I mean it."

"You meant it the other times too."

The commander smiled.

"We have them moving."

"We also have exhausted soldiers."

"The new companies are still fresh."

"And they will remain fresh until tomorrow. I am not spending every reserve just because I can finally afford to have one."

The commander grunted but accepted it.

The chief looked back toward the road behind them.

Another supply column was approaching.

The commander followed his gaze.

"That one is ours?"

"It had better be."

"We received one this morning."

"We received another at midday."

The commander stared toward the wagons.

"And another now?"

The chief’s grin returned.

"This is why I am in a good mood."

"I was wondering."

"Do not become accustomed to it."

The commander laughed.

A runner approached and handed the commander a short message.

He read it and passed it to the chief.

"The next convoy is already on the road behind this one."

The chief read the message twice.

Then he looked over the captured ground.

In a single day, the frontline had moved farther than it had during several earlier pushes combined.

The Tigrans had fought well.

His ogres had not become stronger overnight.

What had changed was everything behind them.

More soldiers were available because fewer were tied to rear security.

Food and medicine arrived consistently enough for the army to keep operating.

Replacement weapons and armor reached the front before shortages became serious.

Fresh companies could replace exhausted ones without leaving the rear undefended.

The chief folded the message and handed it back.

"One thing is clear."

The field commander waited.

"If those goblins keep the road working like this, we can keep pushing instead of stopping every time the rear falls behind."

The commander looked toward the incoming convoy.

"I never thought I would be grateful to have goblins behind us."

The chief grunted.

"Neither did I."

"That sounds painful to admit."

"It is."

The commander laughed again.

The chief ignored him and looked north.

Ogre units were already moving onto the newly captured ridges and preparing positions for the night. Behind them, another convoy entered the camp while soldiers unloaded food, medicine, replacement weapons, armor, and tools for the next day.

The frontline had moved.

More ogres were arriving.

More supplies were coming behind them.

The chief looked toward the distant Tigran positions and smiled.

Tomorrow, they would advance again.