Rise of the Horde

Everything was on track as he had wanted. Going around the tribe to inspect its progress, it plastered a satisfied smile on Xiao Chen's lips.

After going around the tribe , Xiao Chen went inside his tent and sat in his chair to have some rest. He could still hear the busy sounds of the tribe while he was inside his tent. Xiao Chen was about to have a nap when someone raised the flaps of his tent and entered.

"Chief, may I have a word with you." Rakh'ash'ta muttered while making his way towards the chieftain. "What do you want to talk about?" Xiao Chen questioned, but soon had an idea on what topic his Head Minister was about to discuss with him as he saw the bundle of scrolls on Rakh'ash'tha's hands.

"I need some enlightenment on these things." Rakh'ash'ta said while opening a scroll containing the detailed plan of the to be established orc city's sewage system. "What are the tunnels under the city going to be used for, chief? I have been wondering about its functions for a long time but still can't figure out what is it use for. I was thinking that we should remove it if it isn't something necessary and focus more on the construction of the walls." Rakh'ash'ta opened the discussion as he flattened the scroll on the chieftain's table while putting two pieces of wooden square blocks on both of its sides.

Xiao Chen stared at the markings that his Head Minister added to the plans. He scratched his chin while thinking about the things added by Rakh'ash'ta, but quickly pointed them out. "No need for further changes. Just do as what I have instructed here on the scroll. And the purpose of the sewers would be to take care of the excrements of the residents of the city. I don't want the streets to be littered with sh*t." Xiao Chen explained as he has enough of accidentally stepping on some scattered poop around the tribe.

He even punished the Yohan First Battalion before after seeing some scattered sh*t in the training grounds. It was unsightly and unbecoming of a disciplined soldier. He gave his warriors some heavy disciplining through training by increasing its intensity and it worked and he no longer saw any sh*t around the training grounds but inside the village. He can't help but feel helpless since he can't punish all his subordinates.

"Ah, I see. So the redirected river would then would help carry it out from the tunnels and be carried away with the flow. Am I right, chief?" Rakh'ash'ta wanted to clarify. "Yes, you're right. The river water would then flush the excrements out of the sewage tunnels and be carried away, which would also help avoid the unpleasant odor that we are smelling now. And also to avoid diseases caused by it." Xiao Chen continued.

Rakh'ash'ta nodded his head slowly in response to the chieftain's explanation. "How is the progress on the creation of the farmlands?" Xiao Chen asked while leaning back in his chair, trying to find a comfortable position.

"It is going well, chief. It will only take a few days before we can begin planting in the newly opened farmland, and also the expansion of the rice fields is going well. We now have an available rice field that is ten times bigger than the original one. We are just waiting for it to be filled with water from the streams from the mountains and we can begin sowing the seeds. Rain might be not often but we have plenty of water from the streams." Rakh'ash'ta reported.

"I see." Xiao Chen nodded in satisfaction. He needs a stable resource of food since the population of Thyrians that they have is already threateningly low after being butchered to support their daily consumption. He was also praying for the success of the Rumbling and Warghen Clan that he had sent out to capture the wild animals that could be domesticated and become the livestock of the tribe.

*****

After a few weeks of training, the recruits of the Yohan First Horde were finally being used to the intensity of training, specially the new recruits who weren't part of the disbanded Yohan First Battalion. Xiao Chen himself oversaw the training of the Rakshas who are experiencing triple amount of physical training than the Yurakks. The Rakshas need to be more fit, more resilient, stronger and tougher.

The groupings of the Yurakks were divided by height. They grouped together those who are closely the same in height under Xiao Chen's orders since he will introduce to them a new formation which they will use in battle. The Torhterra formation, which he again shamelessly copied from where he modeled the Yurakks, the famed testudo formation of the Roman Legion, which protects them from missile units of the enemy army.

Xiao Chen was preparing his army to be able to counter the ranged firepower of his future enemies early. It is better to be prepared and have some countermeasure in place rather than devising one after suffering. And also he was preparing them, his Horde for the possible engagements with the long-eared ones who are famed for being great archers.

Covered in sweat and gasping for breath, Xiao Chen observed the recruits suffer under the scorching heat of the sun in the hands of his commanders and him.

*****

A month had passed, and the construction of his planned city was progressing well. The kobolds were sidetracked on their river project after Xiao Chen had them prioritized the digging of the sewage system of the city. He really hated stepping on some sh*t on his strolls around the tribe. They then reinforced the sewage tunnels with concrete and iron rods for it to be more resilient and avoid accidents like the sudden collapse of the sewage tunnels, just like what happened to the Erfurter Latrinensturz. He really doesn't want that to happen. Swimming in liquid excrement was not a fun thing to experience.

The walls of the city had a new form, which differed greatly from the high curtain walls of the village. The design of the walls of the city wasn't a vertical standing straight wall and was designed to be slowly sloping inward from the bottom to the top.

The design of the city was an enormous circle with a diameter of six kilometers, which was totally mind-blowing to the orcs since they have never seen or heard of a city that big. But whatever the chieftain says they just follow, they have a great trust in him, which increased even more after he has proven himself trustworthy time and time again.

The design of the city wall was like that of a sunflower which has eight petals. The design was very much like a bastion fort since Xiao Chen didn't want the walls to be easily breached since he is sure that gunpowder powered weapons exist in this world after he heard stories from Haguk about the tube like weapon of the half-men that he encountered pass the Threan Kingdom that make a sound like rumbling thunder and spits out fire, smoke and metal. He was sure that what Haguk described was a cannon.

Xiao Chen was also planning to equip his warriors with gunpowder powered weapons, but the absence of the ingredients to make it doesn't exist where he is at. He was both excited and wary in his future encounter with the ones that Haguk calls half-men.

But first in order for him to meet the half-men, they had to bring down the Threan Kingdom since there is no hell way that they will let any orc pass through their land peacefully or the long-eared ones living in the Kasha'norah Forest who would surely shower them with arrows if they see other races in their forest. That's one of the things that Xiao Chen wants to find out. What's the reason for the hostility of the long-eared ones against the orcs?

*****

Xiao Chen went to where Zul'jinn, the orc forgers and the troll workers were creating the new equipment for his Horde. "How is your progress with my request?" he asked after arriving. The orc forgers and the troll workers all stopped what they were doing and turned their heads towards the chieftain and stared at him.

Zul'jinn moved forward. Excitement and pride were written on his face. He ushered the chieftain to come closer and inspect what they have made. Lines of iron steel shields were carefully arranged in the storage area, both rectangular shape and circular shape shields were all there carefully designed.

"We haven't finished the required numbers yet, chief, but here is what we have made which should be sufficient to equip a portion of the Horde." Zul'jinn beamed with pride as he presented their months of hard work. "And also the odd shaped iron rings that you have requested are ready for whatever use you have for them." the leader of the orc forgers continued.

Xiao Chen went around the storage area and nodded his head in satisfaction. He was really satisfied with the efficiency of the orc forgers and troll workers. They never fail to meet his expectations.