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Chapter 513: What Is Tactics?
The drow commander guarding the drow camp stared in horror at the immobile Bay Territory First Division.
Their disciplined formation, overwhelming aura, and fully enchanted armor and equipment exuded an undeniable power.
Even with 13,000 gnoll slaves and 4,000 drow elites in her camp,
she didn't dare send them out to engage in battle.
As long as the drow camp could hold, she would avoid punishment.
But if the camp were lost and the nail keeping Bay Territory contained here was removed,
even if she managed to escape, the wrathful drow general Leah would offer her as a sacrifice to Lady Lolth.
This fate had occurred more than once, and she had personally witnessed it.
She would never allow herself to meet the same end!
"Even if you've disabled communication spells and set dimensional anchors to isolate the camp from other drow forces, you have, at most, three days."
"In three days, when reinforcements arrive, I'll lead a counterattack, annihilate you, and turn you all into my slaves."
"If I pull off a decisive victory, I might even seize the human base."
"It'll become my staging ground for invading the surface world!"
As she entertained these thoughts, the drow commander couldn't help but laugh aloud.
She never imagined that a mission that had essentially "abandoned" her would bring her such an opportunity against such foolish enemies.
"Perhaps I can even keep a few idiots as slaves and learn more about the surface world…"
Just as the drow commander was indulging in her fantasies, something unexpected occurred.
After wiping out the 3,000 slave forces sent out earlier, the Bay Territory First Division, which had remained stationary, began to mobilize.
Working in concert with the Second Division, they set up crossbows just outside the range of the drow camp's defenses.
"What are they planning?"
"Are they trying to shoot over the camp walls?"
The drow commander sneered disdainfully, completely unconcerned by their actions or their troop movements.
With nearly 20,000 elite Bay Territory soldiers deployed, she had already abandoned any thoughts of initiating an attack.
Who knew what other traps might await?
With this caution in mind, she positioned herself in a secure, concealed location to observe Bay Territory's next move.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A storm of crossbow bolts rained down, piercing into wood and stone with devastating force.
The sharp arrows embedded themselves deep, their shafts humming with vibrations as they wobbled.
Witnessing the range and power of Bay Territory's crossbows, the drow commander felt a chill run through her, grateful she hadn't sent her troops out.
Except for a few foolish gnoll slaves who ventured beyond cover or strayed too close to the walls,
most gnolls wisely stayed hidden, avoiding the deadly rain of arrows.
Bay Territory's soldiers, seemingly indifferent, unleashed several volleys of crossbow bolts before abruptly stopping.
The drow commander, shaking her head in derision, smirked, but her sneer was interrupted by the panicked cries of her sentries.
Peering through the gaps in the walls, she spotted massive engineering machinery slowly emerging from newly dug pathways.
At first, the drow commander assumed these machines were meant to breach the camp walls.
To her surprise, they had no intention of approaching.
Instead, they began piling large stones in front of Bay Territory's soldiers.
"What are they doing?"
The puzzled drow commander felt a growing sense of unease.
However, the lethal range of Bay Territory's crossbows discouraged her from taking any action, prompting her to stay defensive.
Gradually, piles of stones around the drow camp grew taller and denser.
What heightened her anxiety was when the piles transformed into mounds of soil.
Stone to Mud!
The soil was then packed into wooden frames.
Another surge of magical energy flowed, turning the soil back into solid stone.
Loose rubble was transformed into uniform, thick stone walls through these dual spells.
The drow commander's expression darkened as she realized Bay Territory's intent.
"Are they planning to encircle us?"
"Let's see if you have the appetite to finish this."
Day One.
Aside from the 3,000 lost slaves and a few unlucky gnolls struck by stray bolts, Bay Territory launched no further attacks.
Instead, they focused on constructing walls, encircling the entire drow camp with barricades two meters high.
Within the camp, unease among the drow grew as the walls rose steadily higher.
When the walls reached three meters, the drow commander's fears materialized.
Thousands of crossbows were mounted on the walls, their strings humming as volleys of bolts rained down on the camp.
Arcing from above, the bolts inflicted devastating casualties on the gnoll slaves huddled at the camp's center.
In just the first volley, hundreds of gnolls were killed.
Panicked, the surviving gnolls scattered, only to be struck by subsequent waves of arrows.
The camp echoed with the anguished cries of the gnolls.
Some drow elves, unlucky enough to be caught by stray bolts, also perished.
The more resourceful drow sought cover directly beneath the walls, finding safety in the blind spots of the crossbows.
Seeing this, the gnolls rushed to mimic them, but the narrow spaces couldn't accommodate their numbers.
The panicked drow commander, confronted by the towering walls and relentless arrows,
struggled to comprehend Bay Territory's strategy.
"Why would they attack like this?"
"Cease fire for now. Inspect the crossbows and strengthen defenses," Angela ordered decisively.
"Prepare the reserves to counter any desperate enemy action."
"Disassemble the trebuchets and transport them. Don't deploy them just yet—prepare the ammunition first."
Command after command flowed from Angela as Bay Territory's soldiers used their walls to suppress the drow camp.
Nearby, Felicia listened attentively, pondering Elio's words:
"No matter the tactic, its essence lies in leveraging our strengths against the enemy's weaknesses."
"If the enemy insists on stubbornly defending, we must avoid brute force."
"We must exploit our conditions to continuously suppress and weaken them."
"Once they're sufficiently weakened, we'll concentrate our forces to decisively crush them."
Felicia eagerly absorbed the lessons, preparing herself for independent command in future battles.