THE DECEPTIVE SANDSTORM
THE DECEPTIVE SANDSTORM
"What do you mean, general?" the scout asked the general.
"It is impossible that the enemy could have an army of millions each attacking all our cities at the same time and defending Fortress Salvation too. This is a trick. They have something that fooled us about their actual strength", General Moravi replied.
"Do you mean how they managed to kill all our Demonlords advance team so easily?" the scout asked.
"Yes, they must have something that could do that in their sandstorm, a powerful unknown summon perhaps but I doubt they have a million army in there. If we stormed their fortress together, despite the fog of war, we could have conquered them with ease", General Moravi said and speculated.
"Do you mean sir that the insurgents only appear to be strong but are actually weak?" the scout asked.
"The enemy split their armies four ways, if I didn't guess wrongly, three of these forces are merely keeping a pretense of strength. One of these contains the bulk of their forces", Moravi said.
"Which of them are the real force of the insurgents?" the scout asked.
"I couldn't tell but I am sure the forces in Fortress Salvation are a pretense. The enemy would not miss the opportunity to destroy at least one of the three kingdoms", General Moravi said.
"Why don't we attack Fortress Salvation now if it is a pretense?" the scout asked.
"There is no Great Pool of Suffering in Fortress Salvation, there is nothing to gain by capturing that place. We better return to the North and hope that the insurgent's real target is not us", General Moravi said.
"Did we lose the war with the insurgents without even fighting?" the scout lamented.
"I am afraid we did", he said.
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"Your strategy is amazing, the contingents that went south to attack Fortress Salvation have retreated. Indeed, we do not need to put an army there for defense, only a few Shai-hulus and a Behemoth", General Brathnok said to Sara and complimented her.
"I told you so", Sara replied.
"How did the Shai-hulu serpent and the Behemoth ship fool the armies of the three Hell kings, I still don't get that?" Aluva asked.
"My Shai-hulus can summon a powerful sandstorm that conceals a large area although all they do is conceal. If the enemy forced their way through, they would see through the mirage", Rinna explained.
"When faced with a fog of war like the Shai-hulu sandstorm, the enemy would send a strike force to test the strength of the enemy even if they couldn't see them. They would usually send in their strongest Demonlords because they are tough and could retrieve themselves from battle easily with their flight without many losses", Sara explained.
"And the Demonlords no matter how strong are vulnerable to Mithrium bullets aimed at their hearts. Our Behemoth with their gatling cannons and AI targeting could kill hundreds of Demonlords before they knew what hit them. So, all we need for defense is a Behemoth ship and some Shai-hulus", I added.
"What if they sent their Inferno Kings instead to test our strength?" Eirot asked.
"Well, the Inferno Kings are tough. Their bodies are immune to Mithrium bullets. They would discover our pretense", I told her.
"But they won't send in the slow-moving Inferno Kings to test us because these units could not retrieve themselves from battle easily if the forces, they faced were competent. They would not sacrifice those rare units for this mission", Sara added.
"I guess the enemy have already lost the battle when you came out with this plan", Ratatouille commented with a smile.
"This plan only works once. Sooner or later, the enemy will realize they have been fooled", I said.
"Then what is the point in this plan if the enemy will find out soon?" Aluva asked us.
"Well, in the meantime, we take one of the three kingdoms of Hell", Sara said.
"Which kingdom shall we attack first?" Eirot asked us.
"Fortress Gunongo of the West kingdom. That is the nearest to Salvation Fortress. Once it's destroyed, it will take a longer distance for the remaining two kingdoms to reach us", Sara said.
"What if the enemy anticipates this and gathers in the West to fight us?" Lord Brathnok asked.
"We can ascertain the enemies' movements from the air before they can reach us and plan accordingly", Sara explained.
"In the most likely scenario, the armies would return to their own kingdom as a precaution. The joint expedition is over", I told him.
"Attacking a capital fortress is not an easy mission. Each of the Great Pool of Suffering could summon a Moat of Suffering to slow our advance. Attrition is extremely high going through this magical moat before reaching the enemy fortress", Lord Brathnok informed us.
"Yes, that is also another reason why the Hell Kings would not invade each other's territories. The attrition involved is too high to bear. They would need at least three times the enemy's strength to have a chance to defeat a fortress", Eirot told us.
"After Eirot took all the pools of sufferings from the three kingdoms and all the pools from the south, the forces that we can muster should be more than double the size of the West king's army. Since half his army has gone on the expedition, that gives us an advantage of four to one", Sara calculated our odds and reported.
"I thought number wasn't important to winning?" Lord Brathnok asked me cheekily.
"It is not, it is what you use with the number that is important", I replied to him although he probably wouldn't understand.
"Great, we should attack Fortress Gunongo immediately", Lord Brathnok suggested.
"Nope that will not be our immediate plan", I replied to him to his surprise.
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"General Kublok, our retreat to the West is blocked by a huge sandstorm, like the one we saw in Fortress Salvation", a scout reported to General Kublok to his surprise.
"What happened?" General Kublok asked in shock.
"The insurgents who sieged our fortress came down to attack us, what should we do?", the scout reported to the general and asked.
"I have thought about this strange situation for a long time and concluded that we have been tricked by the sandstorm. There may be some powerful forces in the sandstorm, but they are not enough to counter our entire army. It is impossible for the insurgents to have millions of armies in four directions fighting", General Kublok explained.
"What do we do about this sandstorm coming toward us?" the scout asked General Kublok.