Way of Overlord-Chapter 415: Water Strategy

It is called the Bolghar valley.

But it has another name. The Serpent Valley.

And how did Mayeux who is far away from the west have this information?

Aeryon intelligence agency has begins showing its usefulness.

It is one of the first thing Aeryon did when he established his standing.

He did not do it in the beginning not only because he did not have enough resources, but also because he did not have enough manpower to stretch that far

However, since he take the name Kan, he has enough resources to expand this intelligence network.

Not only the intelligence network is expanding, it also began showing result.

In the beginning, it bleeds resources. But now, that resources that has been invested on it is finally justified.,

Mayeux learned from one of his operatives in the west that there is such a natural hill structure that winded down.

At that time, the West is not a priority

Mayeux just absentmindedly tell the spy there to note the structure and try to map it.

The map was delivered and it gathers dust in the many intelligence parchment in Mayeux tent.

But when they finally decided to go to the west, Mayeux once again open this parchment and crafted this plan, using this Serpent Valley.

The plan is to hide a few hundred men, using bows and arrows in these winding ridges of the hills

These small forces would be very effective in creating ambushes.

The idea was a nonstop attack that would break the minds and hearts of the enemy. The main forces would either advance and force the forces of Bolghar to this site.

Or split up and destroy the allied tribe of Bolghar and persuade them to join. There are many tactics that could be used to complement the main forces.

Valgrun admitted that Mayeux plan is quite ingenious.

And he was quite on board with it.

But when that could not be done he decided that he would try to do the strategy that he had been trying to perfect since he was a young man

After all, Mayeux may know the Serpent Valley from his spy but Valgrun lived here. He had long known about the peculiar valley near the Bolghar tribe.

He also knows that the Bolghar tribe also uses these valley to lure enemies into it.

He did not know the thought of Bolgharu but the fact that they occupied the valley and the perfect site for ambushes around the valley suggest that Bolgharu knows very much the strategic effect of this valley if it falls into the enemy hands.

Mayeux isa great strategist.

But he is still not in the level where he is a thousand miles away and determining victory inside a tent.

In war, things are not static and everything so prone to change even more so in Steppe battle where mobility is one of their strength.

In Yan, only the aristocratic family leads army and the common people become the meat grinder.

And while that is the same in the Greta Steppe., in the Great Steppe, a noble chief that did not fight could not win the loyalty of their great warriors.

And when the leader fight in front, then the morale of the warrior rises proportionate to the leader charisma

Everything seems ready but the rain that should have come did not come.

He waited and he waited and it did not com and Valgrun begins to believe that he might have miscalculated the summer rain.

then when he heard about Ashana Zad is here, he felt like the Skyfather did not abandon him

And he believes that with the abilities of Ashana Zad, he could bring that plan back to the front

Ashana Zad then show his willingness to help him

And so once again, he scouts the valley himself, intensifying where the Bolghar forces would likely position themselves.

Then he ask his other warriors to confirm the location of natural barriers while he noted all the flood prone areas around the stream that flowed from the streams of the Empatarah river.

Yes, he wanted to flood the valley.

Valgrun noticed from his youth that during early spring, snowmelt from the valleys, and mountains of the north that carries the water of the north would increase the flow of water in the tributaries.

There is also because of the giant stele up north that the water increased.

If the stream was blocked strategically at the right point, it could cause a temporary flood in the valley, effectively trapping the Bolghar forces, making them easy pickings.

Valgrun strategy hinged on timing.

He ordered his warriors to dam the stream at a narrow choke point upstream, using rocks, logs, and earth.

The damming had to be done quietly and under the cover of darkness.

The plan was to hold back the water until the Bolghar army was deeply entrenched in the valley, with no easy escape route.

Ota was sent to be a distraction. And when Ota had given them enough distraction, Valgrun send forces to attack

But at times he attack with smaller forces and new forces so this unit would lose against the Bolghar forces

To lead an army, one must not be kind-hearted. It is hard to rule the army only with kind heart. Valgrun understood this. Valgrun army themselves are unlike the army of the other tribes.

They are more disciplined mostly because they absorbed the lesson fighting the armoured cavalry of the Zhou dynasty beside them

Even though they did not emulate all the things about the Zhou dynasty, they did absorb the good things.

In the history of the world, when someone acquires technology, and when they uses that technology, technology would spread whether they wanted to or not.

It has been the case everything and it would not change.

And Valgrun absorbed all that he could absorb from the Western Zhou dynasty

Valgrun himself is more like a general of Westerns Zhou than he is of a steppe leader.

He rarely fights in the front, In any other tribe. Such leader would not be respected. But the people of the Khagai tribe has been accustomed with the way Valgrun lead his men.

And in the rare cases where he fight alongside his men, the morale rose higher than compared to any other chief that fought with their tribe

The reason is because it is rare. The rarer it is, the more precious it become. Valgrun begins his plan of catching all of the Bolghar forces by making his men lose.

Valgrun is a master in making a bait and letting the prey eating that bait, not knowing that they are throwing themselves into a trap with no escape.

Then he would send elite unit to win. Alternate between loss and win, making the Bolghar hesitate whether to retreat even further or to move and advance forward.

Valgrun must not win too much that the Bolghar will be afraid to engage and not lose too bad that his tribe lose the morale and advantage

This balancing act is the hardest thing to do but Valgrun managed to do it well

This shows that he knows his army very well.

When the unit is sent to lose, he would sent the new units.

Not only that this unit would be able to lure the Bolghar tribe but it also has the effect of training the new recruits.

Valgrun is a person born in this era and his thinking is of course constrained in this era

He believes that an elite army could only be created by killing and experiencing death in the battlefield.

It is the thinking that is also shared by Yan and any other military at this time. Yan military when fighting also uses the pig-headed charge.

The Yellow Turban rebellion for example is so easily defeated because they did not have any formation and no order when fighting

Only charges with their farm tools

Aeryon for example do believe that only in real battle, that the potential of a soldier would be able to be improved further.

After all, nothing beats the real thing

But he also believe in training before the battle.

Equipping his men with the resources necessary for them to survive. What Aeryon cares most about his soldier is quality.

And while he could not really focus on quality all that much, he tried his best with his elite units.

If Aeryon really wanted to use quantity, he could summon around fifty thousand men.

If he ignored the limitations of age and the effect of what would happen if all these men die under his control he could theoretically even raise sixty thousand fighting men all over the region, forcing all of the tribes to use all of their men.

Even more than that if he becomes even more ruthless.

Sixty thousand men. Sixty thousand horses. This kind of core could shook the world. And if this force is set upon Yan or any of the small tribes, none could escape.

However, using such force, forcing tribes and in the unfortunate circumstances where he loses, the result would be the destruction of his foundation

Unless Aeryon is push to such a desperate corner, he would never do such a thing. Not to mention the supplies that would be needed to maintain such a huge force.

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