Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 105 Bait
Su Mu led 200 shield soldiers, 100 Earthbowmen, 100 Wild Griffins, and a pitifully small number of devout swordsmen.

The troops approached the Griffin Tower to the west, making a great show of force but moving at a slow pace.

Furthermore, Su Mu lacks logistics skills or navigation skills. At this rate, the enemy will likely have already occupied Griffin Cliff.

Maggie was accompanying the operation; she had been appointed the new president of the Magic Guild, and the old mage was finally able to retire.

Given Maggie's characteristics, she should have been sleeping in the magic guild, but she insisted on following the troops, wanting to experience more battles and improve her strength.

After some consideration, Su Mu decided to bring her along. After all, with this Marquis's daughter around, it was as if they had a magic encyclopedia, allowing them to easily deal with the enemy's magical attacks.

As for the sleep problem, we can simply arrange for someone to stay in his tent and keep watch for a few nights.

Three days passed, and they had only traveled half the distance. At this point, Maggie also noticed the problem.

"Was the sudden attack on Griffin Cliff just a decoy?"

Su Mu nodded: "If someone else had been sent to attack Griffin Cliff, I wouldn't have any doubts. But it was Kyle who came, and he's so close to Kuraki. There's a high probability that there's something wrong with him."

Maggie was immediately worried: "Wouldn't our high-profile attack be falling into the enemy's trap? Kyle probably won't fight to the death; he'll just lure us into an ambush."

Su Mu chuckled self-deprecatingly: "An encirclement? In Esidor's opinion, why would we need an encirclement to take down Cangmu Town?"

With so many soldiers, they could easily flatten Kuraki by simply piling them up. Take a close look at the location of Griffin Cliff!

Maggie carefully examined the magic map. Griffin Cliff was located east of Longlet Castle, actually slightly to the north. If they advanced along this route, they could not only capture Griffin Cliff but also send troops to White Rock City.

“Kyle still has his eye on White Stone City? But judging from Isildur’s current strategy, they should be more interested in entering White Feather Plain from the west.”

Su Mu shook his head: "The other side was definitely planning to go west before, but now the kingdom has blocked teleportation, and Isabel doesn't dare to advance with just this small force."

It's highly likely they've changed their strategy, intending to sweep through the Xilin Plains while waiting for the sealing magic to end.

Maggie was quite anxious: "The Xilin Plain has been attacked like this, what is the kingdom doing? Why don't they send troops to encircle and suppress them? If Isabel gains a foothold, the hill defense line will be attacked from both sides."

Su Mu unfolded the map further, taking in the entire kingdom's territory: "Although the kingdom's strength has weakened, it cannot remain indifferent to such a life-or-death crisis. The reason we haven't received aid for so long is that perhaps the kingdom's army has already started a battle elsewhere."

What we consider a critical battle is not so important from the kingdom's perspective. As long as the bandits in the heartland are kept at bay and prevented from causing trouble for the time being, that will suffice.

Therefore, we can only rely on ourselves.

When one's perspective broadens to a holistic view, it seems that many of the mysteries are dispelled.

Despite the devastating defeat in the valley battle, could Isabel continue her advance using the river? No. Instead, she turned her attention to the Hilling Plains and seized Longlet Castle.

But now that his teleportation is sealed by magic, he can only wreak havoc on the plains. Although the Marquisate has been severely damaged, it has not actually shaken Elton's foundation.

Of course, if Isabel were to be ruthless and march eastward to support Lloyd, it would truly become a pincer movement. Could the kingdom withstand that?
No matter what you do, there are risks involved; that's the tragedy of the weak. If you don't have enough troops, you can only concentrate your forces for one big attack, otherwise you'll be dragged down. Maggie and her group, limited by information asymmetry, can't keep track of the higher-ups' movements, which is why they're operating in the dark.

"Then what should we do? Should we just let them run rampant in our territory?"

"What to do? We'll definitely have to fight, but you fight yours and I'll fight mine. Kyle wants to lure me into sending troops, so I'll show him.

But what about Isildur, who needs the land I want to take?

Following Su Mu's finger, Maggie headed south until she reached Qiangnu Town. At this point, Maggie finally understood why she hadn't brought Ouling this time, and why there were so few of her main Earth Bows—Su Mu's true objective was this city.

Qiangnu Town is located at the junction of the river valley and the plain. Once this town is captured, the enemy will lose their way out.

With Orling's small force, they might not be able to hold the city, but attacking it would definitely put Isildur on edge.

Sure enough, when they led their troops to the vicinity of Griffin Cliff, Kyle's main force had already withdrawn, leaving only a few groups of surrendered rebels who were indiscriminately killing and looting villages and towns.

The wild griffins defeated them effortlessly, while the shield bearers bound the survivors and brought them before the lord.

"How many troops did Kyle take? Where did he retreat to?"

“Kelda… the traitor only brought nomads and wolf riders, as well as some spearmen. After he occupied Griffin Cliff, he marched north. I heard that the county city will also send a large number of support troops to help him retake Whitestone City.”

The Marquis's greatest traitor led troops to attack Whitestone City to the north, with a support force from Isildur.

If you only listen to these rumors and don't take action, you'll be missing a crucial opportunity.

Su Mu, however, was not tempted. He merely sent scouts to White Stone City to deliver a message, and then commanded his troops to pursue at a leisurely pace. He seemed to be seeking revenge, but in reality, he couldn't catch up at all.

“My lord, we were all tricked by Kyle. We are all highly skilled and will serve you from now on…”

Before the rebel could finish speaking, he was cleaved in two by the Crimson Dragon Sword, and flames engulfed his body.

"Take the rest of them back to Kuraki Town, parade them through the streets for a day, and then execute them in the square!"

"Spare my life!"

"We have the power! We can help you, sir." The voice faded into the distance and then suddenly disappeared. Anyone who made a fuss or disobeyed would have their tongue pulled out and beheaded.

In the past, surrendered soldiers from noble wars could be used to recruit others, but Su Mu had no intention of accepting these nearly one hundred spearmen.

Maggie looked at the burned-out village beside Griffin Cliff, the corpses scattered everywhere, and the angry eyes of the shield bearers.

She immediately felt that it was only natural for Su Mu's troops to have such high morale.

……

On the walls of Longletburg, Ivo stood in the wind, gazing at the mountains to the north.

Isabel, standing to the side, asked, "Will sending Kyle to launch a surprise attack on Whitestone with a small force really provoke other nobles to join the fight?"

Ivo smiled faintly and said, "If Kyle's identity were changed and he became a ranger of the Barrier, what do you think we should do?"
"After raising them for so long, it's time for them to make some contribution."

Isabel scoffed, "The Barrier wouldn't produce such trash!"
But Kyle has so few men; what if he gets the wrong idea?

"No, he's desperate now. Even if it means going to Kuraki Town to his death, he'll have to bite the bullet and go."

Besides, given his intelligence, he should be able to guess that there's a troop following behind him, and Lord Levin will look after him. But he has to hold out for a while; if he deserts again, he'll be killed!

Ivo conducted a detailed study of Su Mu's Earth Bow. This unit possessed extremely strong offensive capabilities and excellent stealth abilities. Coupled with Ouling's superior damage output, it was essentially invincible against units below level 4.

However, he also had weaknesses: he was afraid of being ambushed and attacked at close range, and he was also vulnerable to magical attacks. Therefore, Ivo used Kyle as bait to lure Sumu out of the city to attack, and then Levin led a large number of silver pegasus to kill him.

For this plan, Ivo even dispatched another mage to enhance magical attack capabilities and provide ranged defensive magic, so that the core forces of Kuraki Town could be eliminated in the wild, making it much easier to lead a large army to attack the city.

Isabel was somewhat troubled: "The enemy has imposed a boundary marker ban, yet they haven't led their troops to attack. Could it be that they are not ready yet?"

Now, Isildur's army is stationed at Longlet Castle, whipping humans day and night to repair the castle, killing hundreds of people every day and leaving their bones outside the city, but they have not yet received an attack from the kingdom's army.

Ivo also fell into deep thought, and after a long while pointed to the north and east: "Perhaps the human kingdom has already made its move? Since they have imposed a ban, perhaps they want to hold us back until the other battlefields are dealt with before they can encircle us. Otherwise, there is no reason why we are still isolated and helpless in the Xilin Plains after fighting for so long."

From the valley to the plain, the empire actually deployed a considerable number of troops, transporting approximately ten thousand soldiers in total.

The elders' plan was straightforward: to establish a stronghold at the center, disrupt the enemy's foundation for building up their army, and continuously infiltrate. Once the nobles saw the kingdom weakening, they were likely to defect en masse, as no one wanted to be a pointless sacrifice.

When the time comes, Isildur will use some appeasement tactics, and the human kingdom will immediately disintegrate and split apart. This is an open strategy.

As for launching a surprise attack on the capital or advancing eastward to encircle it, these are tactical commands. If conditions are ripe and good results are achieved, a direct victory would be the best outcome.

This vanguard force is now a thorn in the side, a nail driven into the kingdom's Achilles' heel; no matter how the enemy deals with it, it will be difficult for them.

However, the elders were puzzled as they waited for a response from the other party for a long time.

Just then, Isabel suddenly closed her eyes, as if listening to some kind of magical message. About ten minutes later, she opened her eyes again.

"The kingdom has reinforced its troops in the withered snowfields. Using the portal, they have been teleported to the north and, under Salman's command, have completely repelled the infiltrating forces. They are now bypassing the hills from the north and preparing to join forces with Raven's army. Their target is Lloyd!"

If you try to hit me in the ribs, endure the blows. But I will gather my strength and cut off your outstretched arm first—that is the kingdom's response.

Ivo was equally shocked upon hearing the news. He hadn't expected the kingdom to have such courage, and he certainly hadn't imagined that old Salman could wield his sword and launch a counterattack.

There had long been rumors that his two sons were good-for-nothings, and Salman, who was bedridden and nearly driven to death by anger, suddenly caught them off guard.

Ivo hurriedly said, "Then we need to take action to support Commander Lloyd. Why not march directly into White Rock and attack the northern hinterland to see if they can defend themselves from both ends?"

Isabel nodded, agreeing with Ivo's idea.

Archmage Levin has a large army, and with his exceptional mastery of both water and earth magic, breaking through the city shouldn't be difficult.

Seeing Ivo's slight worry, Isabel revealed a sly smile: "Don't worry, Lloyd isn't so easy to defeat. He's known as the Empire's most sturdy and towering tree. If the other side is in a hurry to end the battle, they'll expose more weaknesses."

You need capital to go all in, and Elton doesn't deserve it.

We can proceed cautiously and steadily; there's no need to worry.

Isabel is a member of the Elders' Council, so she must know some of the Empire's high-ranking officials' plans. For large-scale military operations, too many factors can influence the outcome; there's no time to rush it.

Ivo shook his head. The overall situation was beyond his control, but the Xilin Plain was something he could scheme against.

Will Su Mu be lured out?

It doesn't seem to matter. If he hadn't shown up, White Stone City would have been his for the taking, and he could have used it to strike a blow against the Angry Bear Clan.

The vanguard will be like a sharp blade, piercing into the heart of the North. We'll see if Salman can hold out then.

(End of this chapter)