After the refugee convoy left the valley, they headed east without illumination from open flames, the entire long line advancing in darkness.
Occasionally, the convoy wound through mountain streams, looking at the darkened mountain peaks which appeared as shadowy fir tips. Without the stars, it would be difficult for anyone to discern directions in such an environment; those at the rear often had to passively follow the front convoy, one by one. The entire convoy consisted of ordinary citizens—although the fear made them somewhat conscientious, they inevitably jingled and clanged as they moved forward.
Following Brand’s instructions, Frey divided the refugees into several zones, with each zone having two key members responsible for maintaining order. Frey explained to these small citizens what they should do, while Brand told them what might happen if they didn’t follow these instructions—thus combining grace and threat, they managed to barely restrain the whole convoy.
However, several experienced leaders were not overly concerned; Reto and Mano, with rich combat experience, informed Brand that sounds do not travel far in thick woods, at most a bowshot away, becoming mere whispers.
Similarly, the Fir Dragon Tower of the White Maned Knight Order listened as the wind swept over the mountain peak, the rustling sound of trees overpowering all other sounds, telling Brand that in such an environment, hearing was less effective than sight.
Brand listened to the wind’s sound, coming from afar, resembling pine waves, or the flocks of birds rising in the fir forest, making squeaking noises. Upon closer listening—it had a distinct flavor: light, distant, and long, like a group of wonderful instruments playing in the mountain wind; it also felt like mysterious whispers, an unknown existence in the forest speaking to the world.
In Golan-Elsen and even the entire southern territory of Erune, people described the whispers from the forest as the witch’s seductive whispers, with legends claiming many people never returned from the forest due to the witch’s schemes.
These legends were obviously not credible, though tasting them in the moment gave an unusual sense of mystery.
Brand led his horse, walking beside the convoy, followed by other mercenaries. Since everyone had only one horse, the riders saved the horse’s stamina for potential upcoming battles. Although the warhorses in this world were exceptionally robust, about twenty percent more stamina than ordinary horses, cavalry rarely used them as mounts because in wars here—they still appeared ’frail.’
They had deviated east about ten miles from the valley, essentially leaving the Silver Sparrow Mountain’s range. This place didn’t resemble a society with advanced civilization; even the smallest peaks were labeled with codes, such as this mountain peak, whose name Brand did not know.
It should be part of the southeastern extension of the Stag Hills but deviated from the main road, desolate, with hunters only passing through during hunting seasons, thus occasionally seeing hunter cabins in the mountains.
Brand had long sent the Stone Statue Ghost out, letting it proceed south-westward. Simultaneously, reconnaissance cavalry were tracing back their route.
After about half an hour, information returned. The two seasoned mercenaries meeting Brand looked pale, discovering a vast area covered with bone skeletons at the halfway distance.
Brand could envision such a scene:
Seeing a greyish-white, dense sea of skeletons slowly emerging from the mountain top, gradually overrunning the forest, cascading downwards, leaving only the sound of ’rustling,’ is truly unsettling.
Hence, he soothed the two mercenaries kindly to rest while telling others about these skeletons’ weaknesses, to prevent them from losing morale due to the approaching danger.
He dispatched spies northwestwards—
Brand understood Madara’s habitual deployment during this season. Layered progression allowed flexible maneuvering, with scouts controlling a vast range, supporting front and back. This tactic aimed to fully utilize the Madara Undead Army’s numerical advantage—in fact, during the early Black Rose War, the dark lords significantly exploited this tactic using excellent mid and lower-level commanders.
But it had a deadly flaw.
That was vision. Once the support from ghosts was lost, large gaps would appear between squads, especially in such mountainous terrain, easily allowing opponents to penetrate and segment. Another weakness was that if the commanders were too inept, such deployments could easily result in classic ’piecemeal tactics.’
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