Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 12 First Battle
Promising to Ouling was certainly not a lie.

A few days ago, a worker from a timber quarry accidentally fell off a cliff. He thought he was going to die, but unexpectedly, he landed in a cave on the cliff face.

The cave was surrounded by rocks arranged in a neat and orderly fashion, like a fortress. Inside were imposing statues and altars, lifelike and filled with a sense of the weight of the earth, which frightened him so much that he hurriedly fled.

A shaken carpenter went to a tavern to drink and de-stress. After getting drunk, he boasted about his experiences. Most people thought he was bragging, but the thoughtful tavern owner took it to heart.

Ordinary people would just laugh off such strange and interesting stories, but the tavern owner, combining them with recent gossip, came to the conclusion that a mysterious place resembling ruins had probably appeared on the edge of the cliff.

Of course, such information may not be accurate, especially for heroes, what many people see as wonders may just be small objects in the magical world.

However, Su Mu was familiar with the tavern rumors in the world of heroes. The moment he heard it, he knew that a mysterious place had been born on the cliff. According to the description, it was likely a mountain fortress that could upgrade the rank of troops, and there was a certain chance that it would have elemental enhancements.

This intelligence was incredibly good news for someone like him who was just starting out.

But Forrest brought bad news.

"Centaur tracks have been discovered on the edge of the forest in Cangmu Town. Wood and his men collapsed at the first contact and have scattered and fled. The main enemy force is approaching the town!"

"Come so fast?"

Su Mu paced back and forth in his tent, pondering a solution.

Kuraki Town shouldn't have been so weak. A few days ago, Langlit Castle issued an order to gather troops from all over the country at the castle. Franz and his men were already afraid of the military might of the Isidore Empire, and this excuse allowed them to take most of their spearmen and transport their wealth away. Wood left behind fewer than 60 town soldiers, barely enough to maintain order.

Wood, who had no will to fight to begin with, panicked when he encountered the centaur attack, thinking that Isildur's army was approaching, and fled immediately.

Forrest clenched his fists and unconsciously began to rub them together: "Then what do we do?"

"Call Ouling over here!"

After the two entered the tent, Su Mu had already unfolded the map and pointed to the border line leading to Cangmu Town: "Esidor's primary objective after taking the border city must be the Fal Forest. Even if they split into several groups and move unimpeded, it will still take them a week to reach the heartland."

Therefore, I judge that the people who came were just a small group of cavalry scattered in the noble territories to cause trouble, and that we could resist them if we concentrated our forces.”

Ouling pondered: "With the border city breached, the capital was terrified and hastily summoned all the kings and nobles to send troops."

The territory, which had not been affected by war for many years, was now vulnerable to attack, and with its troops withdrawn, it was indeed as if the enemy had no one to harass it.

More importantly, it puts pressure on the nobles, making it difficult for them to manage both ends!

After listening to Ouling's analysis, Su Mu nodded in agreement. Some people are just born to do this kind of work.

“The territory of Elton is vast, and even if the enemy has a large number of troops, the rangers will only be scattered when they enter.”

Of course, this is my deduction based on the current situation; it's also possible we'll be unlucky and encounter a large force.

Ouling waved his hand: "If archers are stationed to defend the city, they can definitely take on a thousand men. But if they flee in panic, leaving their backs to the enemy, how can two legs outrun four legs?"

"Sir, there's no need for further words. We are at your service!"

Su Mu put his hand on Ou Ling's shoulder, quite admiringly.

“Forrest, you take over the woodworkers and their families from the forest farm, and select a few able-bodied men to guard the center of the sawmill.”

"Ouling, gather all the archers and follow me!"

After settling the carpenters into the lumberyard, he led more than fifty archers to ambush them on the only road leading into the forest.

Since they were facing centaurs with high mobility, the archers hid on the hillside, with rocks and trees providing cover. While this reduced the archers' damage output, it prevented them from being forced into close combat by a single charge.

After waiting for about half an hour, the sound of horses' hooves came from the distant hills.

Su Mu activated his Qi Observation Technique and observed a group of creatures with the lower body of horses and the upper body of humans from afar. They were about 2 meters tall with brown fur all over their bodies, and their fur was similar in color to the trees, making them difficult to distinguish. They held long spears and moved as swiftly as the wind.

Centaur (Tier 1, Level 1 Bulwark Unit): Attack 5, Defense 3, Damage 2-3, Health 8, Speed ​​6, Small Size.

Element: None
[Comment: A wild horse galloping through the forest, wielding a merciless spear, bestowing death upon its enemy.]

The vanguard consists only of centaurs, which is good news. Although centaurs are among the strongest tier 1 units, they may not be able to gain an advantage against well-rested archers.

I counted them; there were more than 80 centaurs in total, some of them stained with blood, mostly from the enemy. It seems we didn't encounter much resistance on the way.

After entering Kuraki Town, the group headed straight for the forest farm, their objective clear: to collect timber. Although buildings outside their territory cannot provide resources in the long term, magical methods can still be used to gather materials.

The centaurs, assuming the town offered no resistance, swaggered into the mountain path.

As the enemy drew closer, Ouling remained motionless, drawing her bow, awaiting Su Mu's command.

"Wait a little longer, get closer." Once he was sure that this centaur force didn't have a hero, Su Mu felt relieved and used his Qi Observation Technique to guide the enemy to the most suitable ambush position.

As half the troops emerged from the forest and stepped onto the dirt road, Su Mu waved goodbye.

"shoot!"

Suddenly, a rain of arrows descended, dense and precise, with very few missing their mark.

After several screams, the centaurs also discovered the enemies lying in ambush on the hillside. Instead of retreating, they were quite angry that only a few dozen people dared to launch a sneak attack, so they charged towards the hillside.

These are not ordinary bows and arrows; they contain a certain magic, so archers need to adjust for a moment after shooting before refilling their quiver with ammunition.

In the meantime, the centaur troops had already rushed out of the woods, and the faster ones had already set foot on the hillside.

Su Mu ignored the imposing force of the charging troops and silently calculated the changes in the strength of both sides.

Centaur -12, ammo -1, the range is still a bit long, the arrows are not powerful enough, half of the damage is reduced, otherwise more than this person would have died.

But it doesn't matter, the opponent is now within range of full attack, let's launch another round!
Another volley of arrows rained down, this time with tremendous force, each one aimed at a vital spot. The centaur swung his spear to defend, but to no avail.

With more than 20 people taken away, the team was clearly in a state of panic.

At the critical moment, the centaur leading the charge cut down a wounded centaur who was trying to escape, roared loudly, and led the charge.

Su Mu nodded: "He's got some potential. If he can grow into a leader, he might be able to learn some good skills."

But his fate ended there.

Orling drew his bow and nocked an arrow, aimed at the centaur, and shot it straight into its eye socket, piercing through the clouds.

The centaur, which was running, fell to the ground and rolled onto the slope, sliding into a ditch. It glanced at the archer with a struggle before dying unwillingly.

As a result, the centaur army's morale plummeted, and many hesitated to advance, wanting to retreat. Only a dozen or so broke through the blockade and approached the archers.

Aside from special races, ranged units are naturally vulnerable to melee combat. However, Su Mu devised a countermeasure: he divided his dozens of archers into front and back rows, ensuring that at least one squad would remain unaffected even if the enemy charged.

Moreover, affected by the low morale, only a dozen or so centaurs charged forward.

Seeing this, Ouling drew his dagger and led the archers in front to engage in bayonet fighting.

Su Mu raised his longsword, blocked the two centaurs wielding stone hammers and spears, jumped onto their backs, and delivered a fatal throat slit.

However, the centaur was quite skilled in melee combat, striking Sumu in the chest with a heavy hammer while another used a spear to stab his head.

Su Mu barely dodged the fatal blow to the head, took a blow to the chest, severed the centaur's head, and threw it at the enemy.

The other archers could only put up a weak resistance, since it was really not an effective way to use a bow at such close range.

Fortunately, the archers in the back row had freed up their hands, and even in the midst of the melee, they were able to accurately shoot down the centaurs. After a volley of arrows, all the centaurs that had charged up the hill were wiped out.

Centaur -15, Archer -5.

Seeing their vanguard wiped out, the hesitant centaurs were filled with regret. Judging from the situation just now, if they had rushed in, they might have wiped out the enemy.

Unfortunately, there's no going back. Seeing the archers nock their arrows again, they had no choice but to retreat without looking back.

With no threat of melee combat, the archers unleashed their full firepower, determined to avenge their comrades, and a volley of arrows took down more than twenty others.

Only one centaur, heavily wounded, escaped the battle. Su Mu didn't want them to go and report the news, so he gave Ou Ling a wink.

Oling immediately understood his meaning, shot an arrow through the horse's leg and pinned it to a tree, leaving it alive so he could interrogate the horse about its movements.

At the same time, Ouling silently looked at Su Mu, revealing a hint of respect.

His usual skill guaranteed a perfect shot, but today, with increased strength, even his technique had improved. The last men and horses nearly disappeared from sight, yet they couldn't escape his divine arrow.

He, who slept with a bow and arrow every day, naturally didn't think this was an accident, so it must be an enhancement brought by Su Mu.

Indeed, heroes are the true commanders, and his heart gradually burned with passion.

Su Mu had the archers treat the wounded. He went down the mountain and saw the centaur, half-dead and nailed to a tree. He nodded.

No matter how you look at it, this is a glorious victory!

(End of this chapter)