The next morning, the scouts from the villages in that portion of the mountains reported in just after first light. The report was that the army had entered Hens Territory, meaning that they were in the eastern pass, home to a village led by Elder Hens.
The locals had gone into hiding, unable to face off against a force like that, and too far from Wolfe to have gotten their hands in any of the special ammunition yet.
He would leave some for them afterward as payment for their scouting services, but that didn’t help them today.
Wolfe was already up when the message came in and began to check over the supplies he had prepared. Eight heavy machine guns, four grenade launchers, twenty new rifles and a new five-element armour amulet for everyone in the den.
With the guidance of the inheritance, the process became much easier. He only had to draw the basic inscription to get the amulet to function, and the rest of the runes would be generated by the spell when he cast it.
According to the spell book he had just gained, once he was fully trained, he didn’t have to draw it at all. Once he was better at the spell, he could use magic to etch the inscription into the coins without a template. He had tried that this morning, but it took a lot more focus and wasn’t as efficient as stamping the emblem on the coins and then adding to the stamp.
With their packs and the added weapons, the witches would be glad to have the new spells to enhance their physique, plus the level of defence was incomparable to anything they had used before.
There was enough enchanted ammunition for the heavy guns to easily deal with the reported numbers, plus one more group half that size in case they found more enemies along their way.
It should be enough to ensure their safety, so Wolfe was setting arrays during what little spare time he had that morning. The basics weren’t as hard as he had feared, and with a bit more work, he was sure that he could begin enchanting the essential defensive spells and furniture he had seen in the Lumix Family home.
“Food is ready,” Cassie called from the main room, ending his study time and pulling everyone else out of their rooms.
“Most of you have said that you don’t know how to ride a motorcycle, so we will be borrowing a ride from the locals most of the way. Then we will run in the last portion of the route to the ambush point.
These new armour spells will help by enhancing your physical abilities as well as being much stronger armour than the old ones. So swap over before we go.
The heavy guns are intended for two people, one fires the weapon, and another is there to defend and load, but the heavy machine guns need both team members to carry them and the ammunition. So if you get one, pick a partner.
Same for the grenade launchers since their ammunition is heavy. The rest of you load up with extra ammunition for the regular rifles. They’re inscribed with [Chain Lightning], but I also did the ammunition with [Fireball] spells to save mana.
We’re going to be hundreds of meters away from the unit, and you’ll need the range. I believe you’ve all memorized the plan.”
The witches nodded as they ate and then got to their feet when a two-tone whistle came from the air vent above their heads. One whistle meant it was enemies, two for locals.
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What they found was a fleet of snowmobiles with large sleds behind them. Each would carry a quarter of their force even over deep snow at high speeds, with plenty of room for their gear, and the sled would help hide their tracks.
One of the riders ran up to Wolfe and handed him a note. [We will go all the way to the site with your teams and bring you back. If things go wrong, they can get back in and flee with us.]
“Good news, everyone. Your drivers will take you right to your positions. Find them again after the battle is finished or the retreat is called, and they will bring you back.” Wolfe informed the group of witches, who gave a soft cheer at not having to run through the deep snow of a mountain pass.
“Why are there five vehicles? Are we bringing a bunch of extra gear? Cassie asked as everyone loaded up with their teams.
“I will be going to a separate position to block the valley with a barrier so they can’t escape to the south. There is a spot where the scouts say we can get further up the mountain, so I will attack from there, along with my helper.
Since I’ll be able to see more, we can also designate targets for you and warn everyone if the army unit spreads out.”
Cassie pulled him into a hug and whispered in his ear. “Be safe, and don’t do anything dumb. We will be fine. You don’t need to be a hero.”
“Trust me. I’ll be safer than any of you in the main assault force. Don’t forget that I can use the barrier array on my own.” He reminded her.
“Fat lot is good that will do if they’ve got anti-magic weapons. But we’ve got a lot of firepower here, so we should be fine if we catch them by surprise.” She sighed, then joined her group.
Wolfe gave the signal to move out once he had his gear loaded into the only sled that didn’t have witches in it, and the snowmobiles raced away from the entrance while the few remaining mutants cleared away the signs of fresh footsteps.
If they could keep their schedule, it would take three hours to get to their destination, and then they would have two hours to get set up and hidden before the convoy arrived.
The plan called for the witches to use earth magic to create bunkers to shoot from, serving the dual purpose of both guarding them from casual sight and from incoming fire.
Only after they were located would they use formal defensive magic so that the magic detectors that the human armies carried wouldn’t detect them away early and spoil the ambush.
It wasn’t an elaborate plan, but it should be effective.