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By the time the human commanders realized that their forces were not breaking the orc formation but were instead being gradually consumed on the stalemated battlefield, tens of thousands of heavy infantry had already fallen under the Minotaur warriors' giant axes. The human forces hurriedly attempted to retreat, but tightly packed heavy infantry were far easier to advance with than to withdraw. As they shifted formations, the orcs cut into their ranks and began another round of slaughter. If not for the archers and mages providing cover, and the commander mobilizing the remaining ten thousand royal knights for repeated charges, the human heavy infantry might have lost the majority of their forces in a single engagement. Even so, by the time the two sides separated, humans had lost nearly twenty thousand heavy infantry.

At this point, since the battle was not meant to be decisive, the humans finally abandoned their will to continue fighting and slowly withdrew from the battlefield, leaving behind over fifty thousand corpses. The orcs, hampered by their overall slowness, were unable to pursue and simply tidied the battlefield before regrouping and retreating. The orc commander who led this battle was named Tashi, the third son of Bloodhoof, the chieftain of the Minotaur tribe. He possessed considerable talent and, more importantly, a rare calm and strategic mind among orcs. He was one of the future generals I had high hopes for.

Along the Yunsi River basin, numerous battles between orcs and humans erupted. Large-scale battles involving over a hundred thousand soldiers occurred at least five or six times. We didn’t always emerge victorious without losses. For instance, two days ago, Katherine led eighty thousand half-orc warriors to feign as the main force, luring the human army of four hundred thousand out of their defensive line. She then led one hundred thousand elite troops to launch a surprise attack on Saisite Fortress, one of the humans' four major strongholds. With the power of two ice giants, they quickly breached the gates and slaughtered the one hundred fifty thousand soldiers stationed there. They also burned all the grain and military supplies stored in the warehouses. However, after this, the human commander, the Blood Duke, deployed the Dragon Automaton Legion. With over a hundred of these man-made beasts, each as powerful as a ninth-tier high-level magical beast, Katherine was forced into a bitter retreat after a hard-fought battle, losing six thousand orc soldiers during the human counterattack. This battle was hailed as the "Great Victory of Saisite" and celebrated throughout the Holy Oss Empire, with the Dragon Automatons being recognized as a key to human victory and securing their important position in the war.

Of course, this was the outcome we had hoped for. Thanks to Katherine's proper handling, nearly eighty percent of the orc forces lost in battle were half-orc warriors. These soldiers, with a large reserve force and quick training, were soon replenished from the rear, so our actual combat strength did not suffer much.

On another battlefield, we suffered a solid defeat. Three thousand mixed wolf knights under the joint command of the golden eagle youth Siegfried and my top disciple Antara were ambushed during their engagement with the "Thunder God Knights," an eighty thousand strong force dispatched by the Tiele Empire from the eastern continent. Half of the wolf knights were lured into an encirclement, and in the end, the humans lost only slightly more than ten thousand soldiers while killing twenty thousand of our wolf knights. This outcome left both Katherine and me feeling a deep sense of dread. However, this human victory was deliberately downplayed and not celebrated as extensively as the "Great Victory of Saisite" because the nomadic Tiele Empire had long been a sworn enemy of the western kingdoms, having invaded several times and leaving a trail of destruction. As such, even though they were human reinforcements, the human kingdoms remained wary and hostile toward them.

After the battle, the responsible commander, Antara, was punished. His military rank was stripped, and he reverted to being an ordinary guard by my side. A new commander for the mixed wolf knights was also appointed. However, this was merely a means to appease the wolf knights who had lost many of their comrades. Katherine and I, after reviewing the battle report and re-simulating the battlefield situation, confirmed that Antara had not made any significant tactical errors. If there was a reason for the defeat, it was because his tactics were entirely anticipated by the enemy, leading to a step-by-step entrapment, and he was only able to break out by relying on his personal strength, resulting in heavy losses.

"While Antara isn't a genius, he is exceptionally talented, and I hope this setback doesn’t impact him too hard," I sighed as I watched Antara leave the command tent dejectedly. My top disciple may not be a genius, but he is still quite outstanding, and I hope this setback won’t affect him too much. "Unfortunately, we don’t have the time to figure out who he is; otherwise, we could try to remove him. Still, fortunately, the Tiele people have always been sworn enemies of the Radiant Temple’s kingdoms, and their reputation is no better than ours. If such a talented individual were to enter the command core of the Oss Kingdom, it would be very detrimental to our plans."

The half-human, half-mermaid mage Hai Ruo, who was in charge of intelligence integration, also spoke up. "According to Siegfried's observations from the air, the enemy commander appears to be quite young, possibly even younger than you and Siegfried, yet he is highly respected by the Tiele Empire’s Thunder God Knights. If not of noble birth, he must have achieved remarkable battlefield feats. Additionally, these Thunder God Knights from the eastern Tiele Empire have not been merged or integrated with the Holy Oss Empire’s forces. They seem to operate with a high degree of autonomy and are not under the command of the Blood Duke."

"We are now effectively facing two enemies. Although the total number of enemies remains the same, the presence of a cunning observer complicates our strategies significantly. And this is only the Tiele reinforcements. The Yellow Dragon Empire’s forces seem to have arrived but have remained quiet. The threat from that side is likely even greater." I said with a headache, thinking of the Yellow Dragon Empire. I couldn’t help but also think of the women from the Moonlight Tower by the Nameless Lake. For hundreds of years, major events in the eastern continent have involved them. These women, cloaked in an aura of sanctity and beauty, are in fact masters of intrigue and deception. I was outmaneuvered on Sacred Dragon Mountain and lost my beloved companion beast, Ice Wind. The subsequent investigation by the Temple pointed toward a woman named Xue Lingpei, but without evidence, we could not hold the powerful Yellow Dragon Empire accountable. This time, the Yellow Dragon Empire has dispatched the elite "Invincible Dragon Banner" legion, a force of one hundred twenty thousand strong, to support the west. It’s likely that these women, skilled in intrigue and deception, are involved. I only hope Xue Lingpei does not appear. If she does, I will risk losing some of our elite forces to ensure her death here.