Huh? There's a magic school here.

Just as the humans of Earth were preparing to deal with the invading orcs, the gnoll chieftain in the orc camp received a report from the reconnaissance team. However, the gnoll chieftain wasn't too concerned, because in his view, everything else was meaningless in the face of a large army. As long as the troops moved in and wiped out the enemy, that was enough.

Therefore, its orders to the reconnaissance troops remained the same: to scout out the location of the enemy's main force. Eventually, having learned their lesson from their previous failures, the reconnaissance troops requested to use invisibility magic. They stopped far from the outpost, observed it for a while, and then returned to the orcish base.

The next day was cloudy.

The gnoll army began breaking camp early in the morning and marching towards the outpost in Dawn Forest. The humans at the outpost had already launched drones to scout the enemy. The massive commotion from both sides unsettled the creatures of Dawn Forest, causing chaos and disorder throughout the entire forest.

"Reporting to the commander, at the enemy's current pace, they will arrive at our designated battlefield in one hour."

"Reporting to the commander, the artillery units have been deployed and are ready to provide artillery coverage to the pre-designated battlefield at any time."

"Reporting to the commander, the helicopter unit is ready."

"Reporting to the commander, the ground..."

Liu Changzhi's command post was bustling with activity, receiving reports every few minutes that certain units had completed their deployments. Liu Changzhi, meanwhile, kept a close eye on the drone's surveillance footage, watching the orc army advance through the Dawn Forest like a wave.

Liu Changzhi turned to Tang Zhihong and asked.

"Why don't these orcs know how to be more discreet when they move? Why are they marching towards our base so openly? Aren't they afraid we'll use some heavy weapons to attack them?"

Tang Zhihong replied with an indifferent expression.

"You're overthinking it! Have they ever seen airplanes or missiles? It's like telling people in ancient times that humans could communicate in real time by phone across thousands of miles. They would either think you're a liar or a god! These orcs have never seen modern weapons. At most, they've seen magic, but they should have ways to deal with magic."

"What you said makes sense, but I still think there's something wrong with this!"

"I understand, I understand! You're just nervous. After all, this is your first large-scale war with otherworldly beastmen. Nervousness is inevitable; you'll be fine once the fighting starts!"

"Get lost! I've been in the army for so many years, do you think I need to tell me this little problem?"

"Yes, Commander Liu. I'll go check on the magic array at the base right away, and also see how my Aurors are preparing!"

After saying that, Tang Zhihong left the command post and began to wander around the outpost to check on the wizards. In fact, the so-called pre-set battlefield was just three trenches set up around the outpost.

Since the Blue Star side was on the defensive, they naturally dug three trenches around their outpost. The Dragon Kingdom troops not only deployed machinery to dig them, but also, for the first time ever, brought in wizards to set up some traps. This allowed them to disperse their forces while also delaying the enemy's advance, achieving multiple benefits at once.

The orc troops halted ten kilometers from the outpost, as scouts had reported that the enemy had laid a long trench three kilometers outside the city walls.

The gnoll chieftain stepped forward and used his Eagle Eye magic to examine the trenches dug by the humans of Blue Star, then gave a contemptuous smile.

"These foolish humans, do they think digging a trench can stop our army's advance? It's time to teach them a lesson! Beat the drums, let the slave troops lead the charge!"

The orc slave army doesn't refer to troops composed of people of other races captured by the orcs, but rather to the orcs themselves. The orcs comprise many races, each with numerous members, but not all of them possess intelligence. Of the many orc offspring, only a minority are intelligent; the majority are simply wild beasts driven by instinct.

These beasts were strong and ate a lot, and many races couldn't feed them and had to kill some of them. Later, the Orc Empire only found them useful when it went to war with other races, and their use was as cannon fodder! These beast-like people were not only good laborers for the Orcs, but also cannon fodder on the battlefield. They had a huge number of them, so it didn't matter how many were lost.

Therefore, orc slaves are truly excellent consumables, used for both daily work and military operations.

The gnoll chieftain ordered the war drums to be sounded to activate the ferocity of these orc slaves. This was a kind of bloodline magic; once cast, these orc slaves would fight to the death and destroy any enemy in their path.

Thirty thousand orcs roared as they charged toward the human outpost, while Liu Changzhi ordered long-range artillery to begin its barrage. Deafening artillery fire erupted, followed by a cloud of smoke several kilometers away.

Liu Changzhi stared intently at the images transmitted back by the drone, eagerly anticipating the effects of the artillery barrage. Because the enemy was orcs, he didn't know what defensive methods they might employ, so he wasn't entirely confident about the success of the bombardment.

However, the data transmitted back from the footage showed that this artillery barrage killed tens of thousands of orc slaves.

For the orcs, this barrage of artillery fire was indeed unexpected, as large-scale use of gunpowder weapons was unprecedented in the history of warfare on the continent of Karen. Based on their past experience, enemies typically fought them using melee weapons or magic, with ranged attacks limited to bows and arrows, and at most, catapults hurling stones.

Therefore, they had a large number of professionals in their troops, whose role was not to charge into battle but to protect ordinary soldiers. Their purpose was to protect these ordinary soldiers from being consumed by the enemy's ranged magical attacks. But now, things are different.

The weapons used by humans on Earth were too bizarre; many professionals were wiped out by artillery fire before they could even detect the enemy's attack methods. This caused heavy losses to the orcish offensive forces, so the gnoll chieftain immediately withdrew his troops to discuss strategy.

"We've lost so many slaves and haven't even gotten close to the enemy. What do you all think we should do?"

An elderly gnoll thought for a moment, then stepped forward and knelt down.

"Chief, I don't think they can use many attack methods like this. How about we divide our men into four groups and attack them simultaneously? That way they'll be too busy to fight them all and we'll defeat them."

"That's one way, does anyone else have any ideas?"

"Another strong gnoll said slyly."

"Chieftain, I'd like to use Mirror Scrolls while attacking, allowing our mirror troops to advance while our forces follow behind, weakening the enemy. Surely they can't attack us indefinitely? They'll eventually run out of mana, won't they?"

"Okay, let's do it!"