Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 41 Looking at each other across the mountains
By the time news from the North reached the hills, several urgent intelligence reports were already on Raven's desk.

After Sunset Ferry was attacked, Ivo Kane, along with centaurs and archetypes, seized the shipyard downstream and led his army upstream, penetrating deep into the valley.

His strategic goal was clear: to create chaos.

With the highly mobile centaurs as the vanguard, they swept through small and medium-sized towns, while the great elves and silver pegasus formed the central axis, keeping a close watch on the core cities.

If someone decides to retaliate, we can annihilate them in the open and then plunder the city. If the nobles don't come out and defend the city, we can only watch as the valley is ravaged.

How many people invaded the valley?

"I heard that there are tens of thousands of centaurs and thousands of great elves, making the army extremely large. The nobles of the valley can only watch from afar but dare not leave the city."

"Useless. If they really had tens of thousands of men, they would definitely be on the front lines. Why would they be raiding the valleys? They haven't lost a single city yet, which shows they don't have many men."

Raven, a seasoned veteran, instantly saw through the trickery in the intelligence.

Lloyd couldn't possibly give the vanguard so many centaurs; would they even be able to fight on the main battlefield? Did he really think the Isildur Empire was a stable?

As for the reports from the valley nobles, since they could only defend their homes and cities, they naturally had to talk more about the enemy.

But this is also good. If we are suddenly attacked by the enemy, as long as we don't open the city gates and give the enemy an opportunity, Ivo can at most seize some resources and destroy some towns, but it won't cause too much damage.

"Summon everyone for a military meeting!"

After a while, the kingdom's nobles gathered together, making a lot of noise, apparently having heard about the raid on the valley.

This time, the northern nobles weren't gloating. Now that they were on the front lines, the valley nobles were strong allies. If they panicked, the legion's strength would be greatly weakened. Nobody was that stupid.

Raven preemptively asked Garn Amirka, son of the Grand Duke of River Valley, "I plan to launch an attack on the hill ridge soon. Will the River Valley family return to defend their homeland?"

Upon hearing this, the valley nobles, who had been anxiously shouting and looking uneasy, fell silent.

Even if all the units were flying and led by heroes skilled in navigation or logistics, it would still take nearly a week to return to the valley from here, not to mention the journey back to their respective clans.

By then, it will be too late, and most of what was going to be looted will have been taken. Plus, we'll have to face hordes of centaur legions. The situation will be absolutely terrible.

Garn glanced at the marshal and addressed the crowd: "The nobles of the Valley are certainly not fools. They are willing to be loyal to the kingdom. If we do not win this battle, we will never return home. We only hope that the kingdom will remember everyone's contributions!"

"Crack! Crack!"

Raven clapped, clearly appreciating what the young Bucks had said.

Everyone can judge the outcome from a high vantage point because it doesn't concern them. But when they truly put themselves in the shoes of the Valley nobles, they realize how difficult the decision is. Garn's ability to say this suggests he must have made a promise to his subordinates.

"As expected of the descendants of the Amirka family, which has existed since the arrival of Bai Yu, you are truly responsible! The kingdom will naturally remember your contributions."

If we win this battle, the kingdom will make up for all your losses, and the Valley nobles will get the first share of the resources gained from the counterattack on Isildur!
I swear in the name of Field Marshal Elton!

Raven surveyed his men, and none objected.

With the Bucks family taking the lead and the Marshal making a personal promise, the Valley nobles abandoned any further thoughts. In fact, they hadn't originally planned to return now; they were just seeking compensation, and now they felt much more at peace.

To put it bluntly, there are always losses in war, and the risks that must be borne must be borne. The nobles all understand this principle.

If we lose this decisive battle, we'll all be doomed.

Seeing that morale was almost restored, Raven began to deploy his troops, as all grudges would eventually be settled on the battlefield.

"Let's go and see our opponent this time!"

...At the Twin Hills of the Luxembourg Hills, Lloyd had already led his army to the scene and began to arrange for his troops to be stationed in the fortifications.

The dwarves arrived a week early and spent a great deal of resources building mountain fortresses and arrow towers, which had already reached a considerable scale. Of course, if faced with a castle army of tens of thousands, they would still be crushed in an instant.

But the dwarves are a natural advantage for the Barrier faction, and Lloyd can't afford not to use them.

"How many arrow towers have been built? Is the Iron Mountain roadblock located where I mentioned?"

"Reporting to the Marshal, there are 21 ordinary arrow towers, 4 crystal arrow towers, and 2 spell cannon towers; half of the roadblocks have been repaired, but the rest are difficult to repair due to the winding roads and the difficulty of transporting resources..."

"I don't want to hear about difficulties and dangers; I just want the arrangements completed before the war starts!"

"Yes, Marshal!"

The wandering general answered through gritted teeth, his eyes turning bloodshot.

The main force in building the fortifications was naturally the dwarves, but many of the odd jobs were done by human captives. It wasn't out of mercy, but rather because war was a long-term endeavor, and they didn't want to exhaust all the slaves at once; now it seemed that wasn't an option.

Upon returning, the wandering general immediately issued orders.

"From now on, no rest is allowed. Work until the job is finished. Anyone who dares to slack off will be executed on the spot by the Wood Elf!"

"Go tell the transport teams in the rear to double the transport speed and bring in 300,000 people. If they don't reach that number, he'll have to come back to me with his head!"

Upon hearing this order, some slave laborers who hadn't slept for days couldn't bear it any longer. Their legs buckled and they knelt down. Before they could even utter a word of begging for mercy, a wooden arrow pierced their skulls and pinned them to the ground.

"This is what will happen if you dare to delay the construction progress!"

The usually gentle and refined Wood Elf Ranger was now acting like a madman, sending chills down one's spine.

The construction site was put into operation again, but it was now littered with bones.

Isabel emerged from the mountains, still as pure and natural as ever. She glanced at Lloyd and said, "You're getting a little impatient."

Lloyd did not answer her, but simply flicked his hand, and the clouds and mist dispersed, the distant sky and earth rapidly compressed towards this place, finally merging into a giant scroll.

Beyond the mountain, royal griffins loomed like dark clouds, crusaders stretched as far as the eye could see, and knights galloped on horseback, causing the earth to tremble. The archers and spearmen were even more numerous, seemingly endless, like a moving mountain.

Such a magnificent army exudes immense pressure, even when viewed through the clouds.

"I heard that Ivo attacked the southern valley, but the enemy doesn't seem flustered at all?"

"The enemy's commander is Raven, a guy who once roamed the wilderness. This little difficulty is not enough to shake him."

"Judging by their marching speed, they'll be close to Shuanglang Mountain in another day. What are your plans?"

Silence fell as Lloyd considered many options, but he eventually ruled them all out, leaving only one.

"Form ranks and meet the enemy head-on!"

At their level, leading so many legions, any micromanagement or technical command is superfluous; they simply set up their positions and engage in a hard-fought battle first.

The Isildur Empire was stronger, its heroes were of higher average strength, and they were better prepared.

That's his winning formula.

Faced with overwhelming odds, the opponent was powerless to reverse the situation, even if he was Raven Finaksia, the Wilderness Killer.

(End of this chapter)