After dawn, none of the troops sent out returned. They remained in ambush, watching the movements of the hidden Orc sentries, but their intelligence reports never stopped coming. Every so often, an owl delivered another report to Sylvanas. Most came from the City Lord's Household Guard dispatched the previous night; a smaller number came from Shidewa and Xinluoge, reporting on the Orcs at the southern valley entrance. They had identified all the hidden sentries there early on, but had not struck. They remained concealed, waiting for orders.
The two thousand human heavy infantry and the four hundred members of the City Lord's Household Guard's Steel Torrent began checking their weapons and armor. After compiling all the intelligence they had gathered, Yu Lin Bloodhawk, Sylvanas, and Daelin discussed the details of the attack.
"From what we can tell, the Orcs Remnants don't know we've arrived," Sylvanas said, setting down the documents in her hand. "That's why I believe a nighttime raid would still give us a considerable advantage."
Daelin nodded, but added, "Our heavy infantry aren't suited to raids, though." He frowned. "If only we hadn't swapped out the cavalry back then." He sounded somewhat frustrated.
Sylvanas shook her head slightly, tapping the map with a fingertip at the only narrow pass leading deeper into the valley. "Colonel Daelin, there's no need to unsettle ourselves. Cavalry are indeed the best troops for a raid, but heavy cavalry face considerable restrictions among the trees. Once their speed is restricted, they can't bring their full combat strength to bear. So replacing them with heavy infantry isn't necessarily a bad thing. Perhaps what we need now isn't the 'speed' of a raid, but a 'silent harvest.'"
She raised her eyes. "The Orcs' hidden sentries are widely scattered, but every quarter of an hour, neighboring