Before arriving in Desolation, Sharlayan learned about the advantages and disadvantages of the centaur race through Shandis, Remulos, and everyone in the barrage.
The advantages of centaurs are very obvious. Due to their special body structure, they are all highly mobile light cavalry.
Moreover, centaurs can also ride, shoot and cast spells while running, making them very difficult to deal with in mobile battles.
But centaurs are not without their weaknesses.
Compared with the tall and strong tauren, the physical fitness of centaurs is far inferior, and they are no match for the tauren in a head-on fight.
The evaluation of the strongest infantry race given by the barrage is no joke, the tauren really deserve this title.
Before certain results are achieved, the night elves cannot count on reinforcements, and can only rely on the tauren's own strength and the small number of dryads and forest guardians to make a comeback.
The barrage gives a variety of suggestions, but the core ideas are the same.
Blocks the centaur's mobility.
Once the centaur is allowed to run, the tauren, who are relatively bulky, will not be able to catch up.
In barrage terms, this is like a short-legged profession being kited. They can only be beaten passively throughout the whole process and cannot touch the enemy's sides.
Regarding how to restrict centaurs, the barrage gave a lot of suggestions, which can be roughly classified into three categories.
1: Trap
Two: Ambush
Three: Victory beyond the battlefield
Both 1 and 2 are easy to understand.
Traps are a good thing, but like ambush, the premise is to lure the opponent to a predetermined location.
But that's exactly where the problem lies.
The central terrain of the Desolate Land where the tauren are located is very simple, it is an endless plain, and the four major centaur clans are located around the plain, surrounding the tauren.
On this kind of flat terrain with endless sight, it is almost impossible to set up traps and ambush. The centaur scouts will always monitor the movements of the tauren, and any slightest movement will arouse their vigilance.
The suggestion given by the barrage is to lure the enemy deeper and lure the centaurs to the relatively complex rocky area in the southern part of the Karnum Grassland.
Sarlayan felt that this plan was not very reliable. Once the tauren gave up the last grassland and moved south, the centaurs, who had long coveted this place, would definitely occupy the Karnum grassland immediately, and it would be very difficult to take it back.
Already.
'No, wait.'
An idea flashed in his mind, and Sarlayan suddenly thought of something.
‘If we can ensure that the centaurs are hooked and deal an unbearable heavy blow to them at once, it seems that it is not unfeasible for the warriors to temporarily abandon the Karnum grassland with their hands broken?’
This idea stayed in Sarlayan's mind for a while, and was temporarily put aside for later use.
The core idea of the third option is to stir up conflicts within the Centaur.
Centaurs are a race of beasts that do not recognize their relatives. This can be seen from the fact that they killed their biological father Zalta.
Although the five major centaur clans appeared to be relatively united when dealing with the foreign enemy tauren, in fact, they have always had huge differences and contradictions among themselves.
The five major clans are Kyrgyz, Magram, Kokar, Malodi and Garak.
Among them, the Garak clan was defeated in the internal struggle many years ago, and had to leave its homeland sadly, and the whole family moved to Thousand Needles to settle down.
Among the remaining four clans, the Kokar clan is the strongest. Not only can they suppress other competitors in the Desolate Land, they also have the remaining strength to send clansmen to plunder other surrounding areas.
Below Kokar, the Malodi clan lags slightly behind, but not by much, followed by Kyrgyz and Magram who have similar strength.
According to Centaur custom, whoever can gain an advantage in the great hunt held every three years can relocate to the territory closest to the Holy Land of Marathon.
The Kokar clan won last time. If Sarlayan wants to complete Remulos's mission, he must first open the passage into Marathon.
To put it simply, you must first defeat the Kokar Centaur blocking the door.
The plan for provoking conflicts given by the barrage was mainly aimed at the Kokar clan.
Kokal has won five consecutive great hunts, which naturally arouses the common hostility of the other three major clans.
Kokar, who occupies Maradon, is stationed in the west of the Karnum Grassland, and the three directions of east, north and south are occupied by Magram, Marodi and Kyrgyz respectively.
If the three major clans that have long been dissatisfied with Kokar can be lured into a common enemy, the tauren can take advantage of this opportunity to move out and pose a huge threat to the centaurs in internal strife.
After a heated discussion with Danmaku, Sarlayan finally came up with a composite plan.
"Abandon Karnum Prairie?!"
When Sharlayan revealed his plan, the Tauren senior officials were stunned as expected.
Magatha began to talk endlessly about her wheelbarrow talk that outsiders could not believe. Kane looked at Sarlayan with a lot of doubt in his eyes.
"Listen to me first."
Sarlayan ignored the strange looks from everyone present and continued to move across the animal skin map.
"I'm not saying that I really want to give up the Karnum Grassland, but I want to show weakness to the enemy and paralyze those centaurs."
Sarlayan's fingers pulled southward along the Karnum grassland.
"There is a rocky area in the south of Marathon with relatively complicated terrain. Only the nearby Kyrgyzstan will be prepared for this."
"You can first hide the non-combatants in the rocky area. The centaurs who sense the movement will definitely take the opportunity to occupy the abandoned Karnum Grassland. After that... what do you think will happen?"
Hamuul recovered from the initial shock and lowered his head to think for a while. He gradually understood what Sarlayan meant.
"You mean...internal strife?"
"Yes."
Sarlayan said confidently: "After years of fighting with centaurs, you should understand the nature of those beasts better than I do."
"The Karnum Grassland is only so big, and it is impossible to support all the centaurs of the four major clans."
"Then here comes the difficult question. After the tauren voluntarily evacuated knowing that they were outmatched, who should control this fertile grassland?"
Kane's eyes became brighter and brighter: "They will definitely fight! If we take this opportunity to make a surprise attack..."
"No."
Sarlayan poured cold water on Kane: "Before ensuring that the tauren are eliminated, the four major clans will indeed have some friction, but it is unlikely to start a full-scale war. To rush out at this time is to send the sheep into the tiger's mouth."
"We need to do some preparations first."
"Valeera and I will use our air mobility capabilities to go to the four major clans to sow discord and tell them that the tauren are too weak to fight back."
"Bah!"
Magatha sneered disdainfully: "I admit that your eloquence is good, but you don't think that the centaurs will listen to your nonsense like us, do you?"
"Believe me, as long as you enter the Centaur territory, there is a high probability that you will be shot by them on the spot."
Sarlayan smiled mysteriously: "Who said I would go in the way I am now?"
"Da~"
With a slight snap of his fingers, Sarlayan's body was enveloped in a burst of smoke, and began to change under the influence of Gani's blessing.
Kane: "!!!"
When the smoke cleared, a dirty centaur suddenly appeared in the warchief's tent. Kane subconsciously lifted the totem pole beside him.
"Don't get excited, it's me."
Sarlayan tried to move his body and walked around the tent a few times.
"It's okay. Although the secret will be revealed if you fight, it's more than enough to bluff people."
Hamuul looked at the centaur that Sarlayan had transformed into in surprise: "Where did you get this ability?"
After changing back to his original form, Sarlayan explained with a smile: "Just think of it as the blessing of the spirit of the wilderness."
"Although the centaurs don't dare to put too much trust in their fellow tribesmen, if our words make their khan feel that they are profitable, there is still a high probability that they will be deceived."
Hamuul touched his chin thoughtfully: "Are you using the Karnum Grassland and the complete annihilation of the remaining tauren forces as bait..."
"Although there is a greater risk, if we can really lure their main force over and at the same time provoke internal strife behind the four major clans, we may be able to inflict heavy damage on the Centaurs in one fell swoop."
"That's not all."
Sarlayan curled up his lips with a half-smile: "In order to ensure that his clan can take over the Karnum Grassland in one fell swoop, the four major clans will try their best to mobilize combatants within the clan, and the rear will inevitably be empty."
"When that time comes...it will be the turn of the true sons of Cenarius to perform."