Section 106: Reinforcements

The Thunder Tribe was in the midst of an unprecedented building frenzy. With the exception of the severely wounded and the fallen, all three hundred and eighty-eight villagers had joined the effort to construct new defensive fortifications.

After the new wooden palisades were erected, the tribe still held 1,395 units of wood. Each watchtower required 115 units, meaning the tribe could afford to build twelve. Thunder Dragon ordered the villagers to immediately build five watchtowers along the line of the new palisade, with the remaining seven to be placed within the inner perimeter of the tribe, evenly spaced around the tribal hall to provide mutual support and overlapping fields of fire.

The Thunder Tribe had twenty militiamen, and with Flowerpot’s reinforcements, the total force reached thirty. Although this was not significantly fewer than the enemy’s sixty-plus men, the Flowerpot Tribe’s militiamen were of lower level—the highest being level four and the lowest level zero. Facing the enemy’s standard level six to seven militia, only the dozen or so fighters from the Thunder Tribe could truly hold their ground, while Flowerpot’s men were mostly relegated to secondary support roles.

Consequently, under the enemy’s ferocious assault, the two tribes were clearly at a disadvantage. Flowerpot and Thunder Dragon’s three lieutenants had all sustained injuries, directing their men to retreat in an organized fashion while trying to preserve their strength. The militiamen stationed in the three watchtowers provided covering fire, their shots dealing ten-plus damage each, forcing the enemy to divide their attention and preventing them from fully committing to the attack.

Deafening Madman was incensed. He ordered three of his five subordinate chieftains to lead their men to surround and destroy the arrow towers, while he and the remaining two chieftains continued to press the assault against the combined forces of Thunder Dragon and Flowerpot.

Deafening Madman had long harbored a grudge against Flowerpot for refusing his previous overtures. Seeing Flowerpot openly oppose him by sending troops to aid Thunder Dragon, he was driven into a towering rage, grinding his teeth in fury. Amidst the chaos of the fray, they occasionally crossed paths through the melee. Deafening Madman would invariably curse Flowerpot for his shortsightedness, declaring that he would raze the Flowerpot Tribe to the ground the moment he finished off the Thunder Tribe.

Flowerpot remained indifferent, turning a deaf ear to the insults. If it weren’t for Thunder Dragon’s repeated aid and the patrols he sent to protect against grey wolf attacks, his tribe would never have developed as it had. Flowerpot felt an immense sense of gratitude toward Thunder Dragon. He hoped to repel the enemy, but even if they failed and his own tribe suffered for it, he would have no regrets.

A gap had been left in the new wooden palisade, intentionally designed as a channel for Flowerpot and his men to retreat back into the tribal center. With the villagers working feverishly, eight of the twelve watchtowers were now complete—five along the palisade line and three surrounding the tribal hall.

As Thunder Dragon directed the construction, a notification from the alliance leader popped up: a tribe named "Lingyun" had joined the coalition. Thunder Dragon was momentarily stunned. He had never heard of a "Lingyun" tribe among the seventeen tribes of Danyang County. Where did they come from? He quickly opened the alliance menu to check the information, only to find it was a tribe from Zhang'an County, upstream on the Han River, led by a chieftain named Wu Fan.

Only the alliance leader had the authority to invite new members. Thunder Dragon knew this must be Li Zhan’s doing. While he couldn't fully grasp Li Zhan’s motives, he instinctively felt that the addition of the Lingyun tribe to the alliance was connected to his own rescue.

With this thought, Thunder Dragon’s resolve hardened. As he continued to command the villagers, he kept telling himself: "Li Zhan will not abandon me. He must have found a better way to save me, he must have!"

Three thunderous crashes signaled the collapse of the three watchtowers. Flowerpot and Thunder Dragon’s lieutenants led a desperate charge into the enemy ranks to rescue their trapped men. Flowerpot’s militiamen retreated first, escorting the heavily wounded. Thunder Dragon’s lieutenants covered the rear, fighting off the enemy until they successfully pulled back through the gap in the palisade into the tribal center.

Seeing the combined forces slip away, Deafening Madman shrieked in frustration, berating his five chieftains for their incompetence. He then led his own militia and foot archers into the fray, clashing with the coalition at the gap in the palisade. Stung by the reprimand, the five chieftains cursed their own men and launched a more ferocious assault against the defenses.

Despite the five watchtowers raining arrows down on those trying to breach the palisade, and over a hundred villagers desperately patching the wood from the inside, the enemy’s onslaught was too overwhelming. The palisade soon began to buckle. The fighting at the breach was brutal, and under the cover of enemy archers, the Thunder Tribe’s front line was forced to retreat, unable to hold the line.

Spotting an opening, Deafening Madman led his men through the breach, slaughtering the villagers working on the repairs and causing widespread panic. The repair work ground to a halt as the five chieftains and their forces swarmed through the opening.

Thunder Dragon ordered all villagers to take cover inside the buildings and sent the more severely wounded militiamen to the watchtowers. All twelve towers were now complete, providing a final line of defense; if they were destroyed, the Thunder Tribe would have no means left to hold the enemy at bay.

With twelve wounded men in the towers and five killed in action, the Thunder Tribe had only thirteen militiamen left to face the nearly sixty enemies. All thirteen were injured, and Flowerpot and Thunder Dragon’s lieutenants were at half health. The situation was desperate.

Amidst the flickering flames, Deafening Madman stopped near the barracks, laughing wildly as he looked at Thunder Dragon. "Thunder Dragon, great alliance leader, I never thought you’d see a day like this, did you? How does it feel to see your tribe destroyed?"

Thunder Dragon scoffed. "Deafening Madman, you’re nothing but a clown! My tribe still stands—you’re celebrating too early!"

Deafening Madman roared with laughter. "Typical of the high-and-mighty Leader Thunder, still talking tough when you’re cornered. If you kneel and beg, and if it pleases me, perhaps I’ll spare your life. Come on, kneel and beg for mercy!"

Before Thunder Dragon could respond, Thunder Pipe shouted, "Go to hell, you piece of trash! My big brother should have run you through with a sword back at the Black Evil Tribe and saved us from this disaster today!"

Deafening Madman signaled his five archers. They fired a volley, the arrows piercing Thunder Pipe’s chest. Already severely wounded, Thunder Pipe gave a cry of pain before turning into a white light and collapsing to the ground.

Deafening Madman laughed, his entire frame shaking with glee. Thunder Dragon, enraged, grabbed a sword from a fallen militiaman and prepared to charge, but Flowerpot and his lieutenants held him back, pleading with him to stop. But blinded by the death of his brother, Thunder Dragon would hear none of it.

Deafening Madman signaled his archers again, who nocked their arrows and aimed at Thunder Dragon. Seeing the danger, Thunder Bird, who had been trying to restrain his leader, spread his arms and stepped in front of Thunder Dragon to shield him. Just as the final, desperate moment arrived...

A chieftain ran over from the distance and shouted to Deafening Madman, "It’s bad! Windwalker and Crooked Radish have arrived with their militia!"

Deafening Madman nearly jumped, roaring at the chieftain, "What did you say?"

The chieftain, thinking Deafening Madman hadn't heard him, repeated loudly, "I said Windwalker and Crooked Radish have landed and are organizing their troops to march here!"

Deafening Madman slapped the chieftain across the face. "Dammit, you idiot, why are you yelling so loud! Gather the troops! Get everyone together to defend against the reinforcements!"

The chieftain muttered under his breath and hurried off to notify the other four.

Thunder Dragon and his men heard the news and erupted into cheers. Thunder Dragon knew this was the result of Li Zhan’s request for help sent via the friend function. He sighed, "Li Zhan, you did not fail me. You are a man of true honor!"

A short while later, the five chieftains consolidated their forces with Deafening Madman’s. They asked in surprise how he had found out about the reinforcements. Deafening Madman cursed, "How the hell should I know? No time to think about that now! Split the militia into two groups to handle the pincer attack, and pull back from the Thunder Tribe to avoid the range of those towers. We’ll find a wide-open area outside to regroup and face them!"

The chieftains obeyed, leading their men to a spacious area along the Han River. They reformed their lines, placing the wounded and the archers in the center. During the entire movement, Windwalker and Crooked Radish led their twenty-plus men in watching from a distance without attacking, which baffled Deafening Madman, who couldn't figure out what they were planning.

Thunder Dragon gathered his seven lightly wounded men and approached Windwalker and Crooked Radish. Seeing that they had missed an opportunity to attack, he asked in confusion, "I assume you two learned of the attack on my tribe through Alliance Leader Li. I thank you both for coming to our aid. But why do you only stand and watch instead of attacking while they were regrouping?"