Fight, Don't Talk, Chase the Horse

"To achieve our strategic objectives, we must first analyze our enemies clearly."

"Troll, Quillboar, and Centaur," one chiliarch said.

"Very good. Then who is the primary enemy?"

Another chiliarch was quick to react. He answered immediately: "Troll! The Troll gathered in Feralas."

"Why would the Quillboar and Centaur get involved?"

Azar enjoyed this kind of Socratic, heuristic education. He wanted to guide his generals to think; if he were lucky, perhaps a future commander of the empire was among them. For now, everyone was proactive, but the last question was perhaps a bit difficult. No one answered, and the scene grew quiet for a moment.

"Interests? Or perhaps their living environment?" Daphne, standing beside Azar, asked in a low voice.

Azar looked at her with appreciation. The young girl truly had a sharp mind. To be a chiliarch at such a young age—she was a promising talent, both scholarly and martial, and deserved careful cultivation.

"Correct! That is it. Everyone, look here; this line is the territorial border between the Quillboar and the Centaur." Azar pointed at the map to his subordinates.

"You have all seen the environment of Desolace; it is like trash abandoned by the heavens. Resources are scarce and can hardly satisfy the survival needs of two races. They share a long border and are both bellicose races; it would be strange if they didn't fight."

"If we make good use of this and let them fight each other, we can go all out to deal with the Troll in Feralas!" Daphne said excitedly, like a child who had just received a beloved toy.

"Then tell me, what should we do?" Azar wanted to test her and pressed further.

"Let the Quillboar send a force to hold the front line! That way, our sacrifices will be much smaller." It was quite good that she could think this far; a very good start. Azar smiled at Daphne to encourage her, then turned back to face everyone. "My plan is that the Quillboar must be the main force in this battle, using all the spoils as bait to lure them. After drawing the Centaur near Maraudon, we will build permanent fortifications and trap them inside! Understood?"

"Understood!"

"Very well, everyone return now, reorganize your troops, and await orders!"

"Yes!"

After everyone exited the tent, Azar stood up, stretched his back, and said to Daphne with a smile: "You are excellent. Among this batch of officers, you are the best. But don't be proud; you are still young, and there is much you need to learn. Today, I will teach you your first lesson—war and politics are inseparable. Strictly speaking, war is the continuation of politics. To be an excellent commander, you must understand politics and have a broad perspective." She listened, half-understanding, and was lost in thought. Azar was not in a hurry and waited for her to figure it out. After a long while, Daphne looked up and said devoutly, "My lord, I want to learn." Azar nodded with satisfaction and explained his strategic vision to Daphne in detail.

"Take this battle for example. On the surface, we are here to rescue, but in reality, our minimum standard is to ensure our vested interests. What I have conquered is mine; don't even think about making me spit it out. Therefore, those who are besieged should be saved if possible, but if they can't be, it won't have much impact. The Troll use them to besiege a point and strike reinforcements, while I use this time difference to disintegrate their war alliance. That is why we took a detour to strike the Quillboar first. Now, look at the battle on the Quillboar side. Why did I only clear the outer tribes? And why did I stop to rest while fighting, dragging it out for three months before reaching Desolace? With our combat power, if we disregarded casualties, we could have pushed through to here in at most one month. I was giving the Quillboar time to gather their troops. In the face of war, this kind of loose tribal alliance is unreliable. So, if you were the Great Chief of the Quillboar, what would you do?"

"Keep the loyal tribes and the powerful combat units! Let the rest fend for themselves!" Daphne reacted quickly.

"Yes, a smart person would do exactly that. It strengthens their rule and reduces the pressure on survival. Clearly, the current Great Chief of the Quillboar is a smart man. Don't look at how loudly he shouts his slogans; he is dying for the war to stop right now."

Azar paused to drink some water and continued, "The Quillboar gained nothing this time, and internal conflicts will surely erupt. We temporarily need a united Quillboar group, so I must give their Great Chief a chance to re-establish his prestige!"

"Will the Quillboar listen obediently?"

"They will. Look at what he has done: first wanting to cooperate with us, then turning to cooperate with the Troll when that failed. For the sake of interests, he could temporarily abandon the blood feud of his race to ally with the Centaur, and now that he has been beaten down, he surrenders immediately. This is typical politician thinking; he only sees interests in his eyes."

"Muru, go, take the remaining cart of gifts and present them to the leaders of those tribes. Make them support our plan!"

"And you, Daphne, go and talk to their Great Chief about sending troops. This is your first assignment!"

"Yes! My lord."

"As you command, teacher."

Everything was within the plan, even better than Azar had anticipated. Hearing that they were cooperating with us to fight the Centaur, those leaders were very supportive. With a powerful ally to help, they were confident in having a good fight against their old enemies. The Great Chief was even more excited; this was exactly the kind of help he needed. Consequently, a force of over ten thousand troops was quickly assembled, pointing their blades directly at the Centaur holy land, Maraudon!

"The Centaur are not easy to fight. Actually, both the Centaur and the Quillboar have powerful backers. The ancestor of the Quillboar is the Wild God Agamaggan, and the Centaur are said to be the descendants of the Wild God Cenarius and the Earth Princess. Both have deep roots. I am just afraid that if we hurt the young ones too much, the old ones behind them will be drawn out, and we will have a hard time. We must handle this balance carefully. That is why we must let the Quillboar fight the Centaur, and after the fight, let them wear each other out. As long as neither side has the energy to bother us, that is enough. We must not exert too much force!" Along the way, Azar did not forget to instruct his new disciple.

"Report, my lord, the battle ahead has ended. The outer tribes of Maraudon have been cleared. The Quillboar suffered 2,000 casualties. Our army provided auxiliary attacks, with 300 melee injuries, and no casualties among the ranged units and the mage squad. The Quillboar are currently clearing the spoils. Please give your instructions for our next move."

"Pass the order to rest in place. Daphne, go inform the Great Chief of the Quillboar to send his elite troops to attack the Centaur's returning reinforcements. We will send the mage squad and the Elf Hunter to assist them; they must be completely annihilated. As for the remaining troops, surround Maraudon without attacking, but put on a show of a full-scale assault. Now, well, let us have a good rest and gather our strength. Tomorrow, we will go and meet this Earth Princess of Maraudon!"