“But even if you negotiate with them, you can’t trust them,” Gi Gu said.
“I know. But after what you’ve done, they’ll probably be more willing to talk,” Shumea said.
“Hmm.”
Gi Gu looked displeased as he rubbed his chin, but Shumea spoke indifferently.
“I’ll let His Majesty know that you fought well, so you won’t have to worry about His Majesty thinking poorly of you.”
“I see… If you’re going that far, then I’ll take a step back.”
As Gi Gu finally agreed to submit to Shumea and change the way they fought, Shumea quickly mobilized. She ordered Felduk to reorganize, then added Gi Jii Yubu’s army (Regiol), Gi Zu Ruo’s Thousand-Demon Army (Sazanorga), and the mixed army to her forces, and then attacked the cities ruled by the three-country alliance.
However, the way the armies fought under her could only be called soft when compared to Felduk.
“I don’t think the enemy will surrender if we fight like this.”
Shumea heard Gi Zu and Gi Jii out, then turned to Vilan Do Zul for his opinion.
“Do you share their thoughts too, tactician-dono?”
“Umm, yes…”
“Hmm~”
When Vilan saw Shumea smile meaningfully, he fell silent and became thoughtful.
“It’s fine like this, for now,” Shumea said.
They all looked at each other as Shumea watched the walls of the enemy city with her spear on her shoulders.
“Alright, I’ll be heading to Gi Gi Orudo’s base, so you boys watch over our base while I’m out.”
Shumea took only a small number of soldiers with her before departing for Gi Gi Orudo’s base. On other days she would visit Gi Gu Verbena too.
After seeing all that, Vilan was finally able to see through Shumea’s intentions.
“Shumea-dono intends to make the most out of Felduk, Zeilduk, and the mixed armyus.”
“…What do you mean?”
Gi Zu and Gi Jii couldn’t understand, so Vilan simplified it for them.
“The enemy thinks we’re just idiots that throw our forces at them time and time again. Shumea-dono is trying to change that. It’s a good move to threaten them too.”
“So, in other words, she wants to make the most of our numerical superiority?”
“Yes, she wants to make the enemy feel helpless to force them into negotiations. The reason she’s being so lenient attacking this city is chiefly to buy time.”
Just as Vilan had pointed out, Felduk and Zeilduk had quickly reorganized themselves and caught up with the mixed army. It didn’t take them long before the armies were close enough to communicate with each other.
“She’s surprisingly talented at politics.”
The goblins couldn’t understand what Vilan meant by that. It was a human concept to balance the different armies and avoid taking all of the achievements. As the goblin armies competed with each other in the eastern expedition, it became apparent that the entire army would become imbalanced once one of the armies stood out too much.
Of course, it was also true that Shumea was trying to take advantage of their numerical superiority. It was brilliant on Shumea’s part to realize that she could bring out the best of the different armies by focusing their forces.
At the very least, she had a much broader perspective than the goblins that just focused on crushing the enemies that were right in front of them. Perhaps, this was the reason why the Goblin King entrusted the whole army to her.
Shumea waited for all three armies to come together, then she sent a messenger to the city to demand their surrender. In the face of that massive army of roughly 20,000 soldiers, the city could only surrender. The decisive factors behind their surrender were the humans, Shumea and Vilan, who negotiated with the cities that were terrified of Felduk’s atrocities.
As the made their way through the cities under the Three-Country Alliance, Shumea had them pledge to offer food on top of their surrender, and before long, their armies finally reached the fortress that Aldur the Undying protected.
The goblins wanted to attack immediately, but Shumea stopped them and chose to prepare carefully instead.
“There’s no reason for us to rush. They’re the ones in trouble. After all, they’re the ones struggling with food.”
And then as though to show off all the food they got from the cities they conquered, Shumea ordered the armies to make camp in front of the fortress and fortify their position. She even had them build stone barracks. Aldur could only watch on with arms folded and brows knitted.
He has won many times until now by defeating the advancing goblins. The false surrenders, sacrificing an entire city… Everything was done to limit the areas that the goblins could attack from.
Aldur’s strategy revolved around avoiding a direct confrontation and hitting the goblins where it hurt. But while such tactics were effective against the goblins, it was fundamentally ineffective against Shumea.
Until now, the goblins were a scattered force, attacking as individual forces, but now, with the appearance of a commander-in-chief in Shumea, the three armies were being mobilized under one will, making it that much more difficult to focus on their weak points.
Moreover, with Shumea at the head of the army, the cities that have been desperately fighting for their lives have now started to relax. As someone who has been relying on the people’s sense of crisis to put up a desperate resistance against the goblins, Shumea’s move was strategically powerful.
In fact, some of the cities under the Three-Country Alliance have even begun to consider a surrender. There was a strange charisma about Shumea that was effective not only at suppressing the goblins but also at making people feel that she would keep her word.
Hence, Shumea’s strategy successfully drove Aldur into a corner.
