Chapter 318: Divide and Conquer

“I’ve got bad news!” Daryl said urgently to Wu Qingsong. “Several major clans are rallying the surrounding tribes, they plan to attack Nagrand before the summer ends.”

Wu Qingsong and Nina were both momentarily stunned. Nina was the first to react. 

“Daryl, where did you hear this?”

“One of our vassal tribes to the east secretly sent someone to warn us,” Daryl said. “The Antai Clan to our northeast is putting pressure on them, trying to force them to break away from Silvermoon. Meanwhile, the Skude Clan, which lies between Silvermoon and Nagrand, has already begun war preparations. I took a detour on my way here to check their camp. They’re already slaughtering sheep.”

On the plains, there weren’t many stable food sources for an army. When a tribe prepared for war, they would slaughter sheep to make dried meat rations. But this wasn’t something done lightly. If a tribe took that step, it meant they were committing their entire force to battle—a fight to the death. Even during past conflicts with Silvermoon, none of the surrounding tribes had gone this far.

“Is Silvermoon in danger?” Wu Qingsong asked immediately.

“I’m not sure yet. I’ve already sent people to keep an eye on the major tribes around us. If things take a bad turn, we can always retreat south,” Daryl said. “But what about you?”

The Silvermoon wolffolk weren’t so different from the other tribes on the plains. They didn’t have a fixed settlement, just a loosely defined territory where they moved around. Their beliefs also weren’t too different from the other beastfolk, which was likely why they hadn’t faced as much hostility as Nagrand.

But Nagrand was a completely different story.

Not only had they chosen to settle permanently, but they had also built a towering city and a grand temple—rare sights on the plains. They had cleared farmland, dug irrigation canals, and built a structured water system.

If Silvermoon was forced to flee, they could pack everything onto carts in a day, round up their livestock, and retreat.

But Nagrand had no such option.

“If they’re coming, then we don’t have a choice,” Wu Qingsong said, glancing toward the lake, where Xeila stood watching the beastfolk haul in their fishing nets. 

He turned back to Daryl. “If they want war, we’ll give it to them.”

“This time is different from last time,” Daryl warned. “It’s not just the Boyle Clan that you crushed last year. The Antai and Skude Clans are both mobilizing. And from what I’ve heard, four major clans from the north, Ogota, Bares, Bloodmoss, and Broken Horn, have joined in too. Seven major clans united. Their forces will easily reach forty or fifty thousand. If they’re mobilizing the way Skude is, that number could go up to sixty or seventy thousand!”

It was clear that Daryl had grown a lot over the past half-year. Maybe it was because Nina had spent most of her time in Nagrand, rarely returning to Silvermoon. Without her around, he’d been forced to take on more responsibility.

New Silvermoon was much further south than Nagrand. During the two harshest months of winter, they had even migrated down into the Gobi Desert to escape the cold. That experience must have sharpened him. He was beginning to look more and more like a true leader.

Though Daryl probably had some mixed feelings about his sister staying away for so long, his subordinates didn’t seem to mind at all.

They had built New Silvermoon alongside him after Nina went missing and the old leaders were wiped out. To them, she wasn’t particularly close, and they weren’t eager for any sudden shifts in leadership.

Nina herself felt conflicted. She was happy to see Daryl grow, but at the same time, she had poured her heart into Silvermoon. She didn’t want to slowly become a bystander in what she once ruled.

Wu Qingsong, on the other hand, was quite pleased with how things were unfolding. It was his encouragement that helped Nina accept the new reality.

Maybe someday soon, everyone would finally accept his relationship with her.

“Thanks for making the trip,” Wu Qingsong said, patting Daryl on the shoulder. “I’ll gather everyone right away.”

***

“The Boyle Clan suffered too much when we beat them last time. It took them over half a year just to pull themselves back together, so it makes sense that they’d want revenge. The Skude Clan is caught between Nagrand and Silvermoon, so of course, they’d feel threatened and want to act first. The Antai Clan had serious conflicts with Silvermoon before, so they have old grudges. But what about the northern clans? What’s their reason for wanting to fight us?”

Beck, the liaison between Nagrand and Silvermoon, had gathered plenty of intel from the wolffolk and their vassals. As soon as he heard Daryl’s report, he pointed out the locations of the mentioned clans on the map.

“I remember the name Ogota,” Wu Qingsong said. “Some of the wild buffalo and moose we captured before came from their territory.” He glanced at the map again. “We’ve also been near Bares Clan’s territory before. But right now, the real question isn’t why they’re coming after us, it’s how we’re going to deal with their attack.”

“That’s easy,” Xeila said, speaking up for the first time in a Nagrand war council. “They need time to gather their forces. We eliminate them one by one before they even get here.”

The room suddenly fell silent. No one knew how to respond.

“…It’s actually a solid strategy,” Harold finally said after a moment. “And it would be highly effective. But we can’t just wipe out every single one of them.”

“We only need to kill their leaders,” Xeila said flatly.

Harold was caught off guard for a second but quickly recovered. “Miss Xeila has a point. However, we should be selective about our targets. We don’t want to make enemies everywhere. The Boyle Clan should definitely be one of them. We’ve already killed so many of their people, they won’t let this grudge go. Plus, they’re too close to us, which means future conflicts are inevitable. If we take them out, it’ll serve as a warning to the others and eliminate a long-term threat.”

“Then Skude should be another target,” Wu Qingsong agreed. “They’re blocking the path between Nagrand and Silvermoon. A conflict with them is only a matter of time. But…” 

He turned to Daryl. “If we take them down now, can Silvermoon claim their land?”

Daryl’s eyes lit up with excitement, but he didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he studied the map for a while before nodding.

“It won’t be easy. But we can try.”

Silvermoon currently had about 9,000 people, making it a mid-sized clan in the region. Their strength lay in their high percentage of young warriors, meaning they could mobilize at least 4,000 fighters.

On the other hand, Skude was an ancient clan that had existed in the region for over a hundred years. No one knew their exact population, but aerial scouting suggested they had at least 30,000 people, and at maximum, they could mobilize 10,000 warriors.

If Wu Qingsong and his group assassinated their leaders and threw them into chaos, defeating them wouldn’t be too hard.

But occupying their land? That was a different story.

Silvermoon didn’t have enough manpower to hold the territory on their own. They would have to absorb Skude’s former vassals—and even integrate Skude’s own people. That would be an enormous challenge for Daryl.

His eyes shifted to Nina. He hoped she’d return to Silvermoon and help him with the task.

Nina hesitated.

Nagrand was facing a massive crisis, but for Silvermoon, this was an incredible opportunity.

“Nina, you’ve already done a lot for us,” Wu Qingsong said. “This time, this enemy is yours to handle.”

Nina met Wu Qingsong’s gaze, then slowly nodded.

“Alright.”

“Now, let’s analyze the other enemies,” Wu Qingsong said, giving her a slight smile before turning his attention back to the map. “The basic rule of strategy is to form alliances with distant forces and attack those nearby. That means Broken Horn and Bloodmoss should be our priority for negotiation.”

“‘Distant alliances, nearby conquests’?” Harold nodded in agreement. “That does make sense.”

Wu Qingsong scratched his head a little. That was just common sense, wasn’t it?

At that moment, Ram spoke up. “We still don’t have enough information. Seven major clans uniting against us, especially ones that don’t even border us, means there has to be a bigger reason behind this.”

“That’s simple,” Xeila said, standing up. “Let’s go capture their leaders and ask them ourselves.”