Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 282 The Spirit Shaman
"Search! Find the human ambush force!"

Mogo commanded his wolf riders, sending them in scattered groups of ten to scout ahead. These reconnaissance troops were sent out before the main army advanced, to avoid falling into an enemy ambush.

Unfortunately, the enemy's long-range attack range was too far; they could barely see anyone, and the army was attacked.

As soon as they rushed over, the enemy quickly fled.

This was the third attack in three days. Only in the first wave did they have the Lightning Thunderbirds and successfully engage the enemy head-on. Once the Thunderbird force was wiped out, they no longer had any highly mobile units to catch up with the enemy and could only passively take hits.

At the slightest sign of trouble, the battle mage will release an atmospheric shield to defend against unseen attacks.

But this wasn't a solution either. The constant fear of danger slowed their march considerably. They had originally planned to reach Sunset Fortress in three days, but they had only covered half the distance.

Levin had urged them multiple times, using very harsh language. Mogo wanted to leave, but he simply couldn't. The enemy's ranged units were elusive and relentlessly ambushed them. In the past three days, the stronghold's army had lost nearly 5000 orcs, almost a sixth of their strength, a truly terrifying loss.

This was related to the opponent's overwhelming firepower, and also to Mogo's strategy. Even though he lost a large number of Thunderbirds at the beginning, Mogo was not in a hurry. After all, his army of one-eyed birds was still there. He wanted to lure the opponent closer and cooperate with João's necromancer to wipe out the humans in one fell swoop.

【Spirit Shaman (Level 4 Outpost Super Tier Unit, Fire/Earth Elemental Baptism): Attack 17, Defense 12, Damage 10-20, Health 80, Speed ​​6, Medium Size.

Element: Fire/Earth.

Bloodlust Shaman: Can use Bloodlust Spells (Advanced). When a unit dies in a Bloodlust state, its blood can be condensed into a Blood Shaman.

Forbidden Spirit Domain: Shamans can inflict the Forbidden Spirit status on their own troops, preventing enemies attacked or killed by this troop from being resurrected (including reincarnation, spirit gathering magic, archangel resurrection, necromancy, etc.).

Blood of Fury: Spreads supernatural shamanic magic with blood. For every 10% of health lost by the covered units (not less than 5 points; if it is less than 5 points, the damage will only increase for every 5 points lost; must be a living unit), the damage value increases by 1 point.

Commentary: Spiritual communication is omnipresent; shamans are inheritors of the elements, embodiments of nature, and guides for all living beings.

Blood Shaman (Special Unit): A special spirit formed from blood. The stronger the original owner's power, the stronger the Blood Shaman. Inherits 20% of the original owner's attributes.

Spirit Control: This type of unit cannot be summoned and is unaffected by mind magic.

When it comes to countering resurrection-type skills, the Church of Light is one, and the natural shamans of the stronghold are on the same level. João has ways to counter the opponent's reincarnation and rebirth, but the distance is sufficient; if the opponent is too far away, the shaman's magic simply cannot reach them.

After suffering a loss the first time, I couldn't even catch up with them afterwards. This battle was truly frustrating.

João walked up to the One-Eyed King and said, "Why don't we have the Barrier send a force to join us in surrounding the enemy? With the loss of the Lightning Thunderbird, it's already difficult for us to deal with humans on our own."

I gathered information from the Thieves' Guild. The commander of this force is Su Mu. He not only has powerful ranged units and advanced logistics skills, but also a general who is proficient in terrifying defensive techniques. In a head-on battle, we might not be able to defeat them.

Let the elven dragon knight deal with him. The two are sworn enemies and have clashed many times before; surely the dragon knight has a way to handle him.

At this point, it seems there is no other way. If Su Mu continues to drag things out like this, the one-eyed army will not be able to reach the checkpoint for a week, which will seriously slow down the progress of the general offensive and give the humans more time to make preparations.

"Notify Orlando and have him bring his troops over."

"Let's be more aggressive this time and expose more weaknesses in Su Mu. Even if we suffer some losses, as long as we can lure him in, we'll have a chance to eliminate him!"

……

As night fell, Su Mu led his army to rest in a cave. They did not light a fire, but simply drank some water and ate some dry rations to replenish their strength.

Actually, even the strongest swordsman could go for days without food or water. The current ambush on the stronghold doesn't need to be so strenuous; a normal delay is sufficient.

Conrad sent a message to Sumu, praising his actions greatly. Originally, the Cyclops would have joined forces with Isildur's army in three days, but now they hadn't even covered half the distance. Naturally, Levin dared not launch a general offensive too soon. If they launched an attack and the Cyclops were blocked on the road, it would truly be a disaster.

It's not that Levin was completely incapable of breaking through the barrier, but rather that the losses would be far greater, and he would have to make additional arrangements.

Using this gained time, humanity continued to mobilize troops, and Conrad's forces grew even stronger, with several thousand more soldiers guarding the pass, giving them a greater chance of victory.

That's why Conrad praised him so highly and reported it to Congress, awarding Sumu credit. At this time, Sumu's outstanding contribution was exactly what needed to be exemplified, and Congress generously acknowledged Sumu's achievements, promising rewards after the war and calling on more human lords to defend the capital.

But Conrad knew that blocking the stronghold army was a very dangerous thing. Even if Su Mu was strong, he only had more than 4000 men. To continuously block an army of 3, every step had to be precisely planned. If he was not careful, he would fall into an abyss.

"The Knight Commander said that three days is already quite good, we've completed the mission ahead of schedule, and we can leave at any time. What's next?"

Ouling looked at the lord, somewhat eager to try.

Although he was the operator of the Demonic Crossbow, the battle plan was set by the lord—a long-range attack where the enemy couldn't even see a shadow of their own troops. Such a brilliant idea could only have come up with by Su Mu.

Of course, this requires the coordination of various skills. Most people don't have advanced logistics skills, so they can't fight and run at the same time.

Now that the Thunderbirds at the outpost have been completely wiped out, they can come and go as they please, it's incredibly satisfying.

According to Orling, they could fight a few waves before considering retreating.

"This time, the enemy's wolf cavalry regrouped and formed a large square formation, with the Cyclops following closely behind."

Before we leave, should we pull off something big? If we can take down some Cyclopes, then we'll be done with it once and for all!

Although the ballistae had previously targeted the enemy's giant forces, the distance was too great, and they could only attack the front line. They could only kill a few dozen giants at most by penetrating the range, which was negligible.

If the Cyclops gets within range this time, Orling is prepared to teach them a lesson.

Su Mu sat there motionless, unfolding the magic map and examining it carefully. After a long while, he shook his head: "Their werewolf squad was very effective. They could find our troops by sacrificing at most a few dozen. Of course, we also had a strategy of splitting our forces to deal with them, but it only slowed down the speed of the stronghold and did not cause as much damage as the first time."

If that's the case, why did they suddenly change their formation?

Upon hearing Su Mu's question, Ou Ling also became cautious. After thinking about it carefully, she realized that it was indeed true.

The only reason for changing the base's formation is that patience has run out, and they are preparing to break through their resistance and quickly reach the checkpoint. Based on information from the front lines, this reason is highly likely.

But since the lord said so, he must have his reasons. After thinking for a moment, Ouling said, "We have already had enough days of blocking. Every extra day is a bonus. If we want to play it safe, we can withdraw."

It's just a bit of a pity that it didn't cause greater damage.

Su Mu stood up, closed the map, and his eyes became firm: "The other side must have an ambush or reinforcements to dare to change their formation like this."

It's nothing more than the heroes from the other side of the fortress coming to meet us. The two sides agree on a destination and encircle us. The troops at the stronghold are just bait.

But you're right, the situation is unfavorable to us. To achieve final victory, we can't be too cautious; we need to take risks.

Before they can regroup, let's take one last hit on the stronghold's troops and try to crush their Cyclopes!

(End of this chapter)