Capítulo 137: Chapter 137: Advantage Is Mine!
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The rules for winning the game were straightforward: either eliminate the opponent's army, behead their king or queen, or control all four small hills on the chessboard. Tom and Hermione each had two hills, leaving the central plain as the battlefield.
"Who goes first?" Tom gathered his pieces and looked at Hermione. She pulled out a Galleon.
"Heads, you go first; tails, I go first."
The coin landed heads, so Tom took the first move. However, before starting, Hermione stopped him.
"Just playing the game is a bit boring. How about adding some stakes?"
Tom coughed, "In this atmosphere, the usual scenario would involve playing pool or cards..."
Hermione:?
"If you lose, you bring me some of that chocolate from Honeydukes."
"Oh... alright then." Tom nodded. "What if you lose?"
"I won't lose," Hermione proudly puffed her chest. "But if I do..."
An image suddenly flashed in Tom's mind.
"...then I'll help you grade three assignments!"
"Is that a deal?" Tom agreed readily. Although he established the position of a teaching assistant, he couldn't force them to grade assignments. However, if the assistant volunteered, Tom had no objections.
With the wager settled, the game began.
As the first to attack, Tom positioned his regular foot soldiers in the middle, guarding the king. He split the knights into two squads, placing them on the flanks, with the chariots at the forefront. The chariots were beautifully crafted, each with four horses and two soldiers, their manes and armor intricately detailed.
Tom envisioned a tactical scenario where his forces engaged Hermione's on the plain. His plan was to use the knights to divert Hermione's cavalry and have the chariots charge directly. If he could break through her defenses, victory would be within his grasp.
With a strategy in mind, Tom ordered his original chess pieces, or as he preferred to call them, "centurions" and "chariot commanders," to arrange themselves. Chaos ensued, and Tom didn't expect it to be so troublesome. He had a moment of unease, thinking that if Hermione took advantage of his deployment to charge with her cavalry and chariots, his formation might collapse.
Strangely, while he was organizing his troops, Hermione seemed to have done nothing.
"What's Hermione up to?" Tom wondered.
"I'm about to start," she reminded him, "are you ready?"
Tom glanced at Hermione. Beneath her long eyelashes, he saw a hint of cunning in her black eyes. The opponents were not witches and wizards but rather, a cunning little fox.
The worst thing Tom feared happened: his army advanced to the foothills, and Hermione hadn't launched an attack.
"Why aren't you attacking?"
"Because I'm the defender!"
Tom:...
"Get down from there!"
"You come up here!"
Hermione laughed joyfully, and she had no intention of facing Tom head-on. She believed that she couldn't match Tom in micro-managing the game, so she chose to utilize the terrain.
At this point, Hermione's army retreated to the flat top of the hills—or rather, they were already on the hills. Hermione placed her cavalry and chariots on the outermost edges, clearly aiming to take advantage of the terrain. Tom wanted to attack? Then she would put her cavalry on the mountaintop, effectively using the elevation to accelerate their downhill charge.
Tom's face darkened. In reality, if Hermione dared to deploy forces like this, Tom would be amused and could simply cut off the water source on the hills, causing her army to disintegrate without a fight. But this was Wizard's Chess, and Tom hadn't implemented such settings yet.
After a moment of silence, Tom felt there might not be a good solution. He couldn't think of any tactical genius moves—he wasn't a master strategist. He decided to have his chariot troops withdraw and let the foot soldiers attack the hills. Of course, he wouldn't send them to their deaths; he planned for them to advance while digging trenches, effectively slowing down Hermione's mobile forces.
After giving the order, the centurion leaders began to protest loudly, "Sending us to our deaths!"
"Deploy the chariot troops; let them send these rebels flying!"
Wizard's Chess pieces had an interesting feature: if they anticipated being "captured" in the next move, they would loudly protest to the player, suggesting alternative strategies. This was somewhat similar to "hints" in card games, beneficial for beginners but essentially useless for high-level players. If you were indecisive, these pieces could easily confuse you.
Tom felt a bit overwhelmed. He firmly commanded the pieces, "All troops, stand in formation! Follow me to break the enemy! Infantry, advance while digging trenches, advantage is ours!"
A centurion in a tone of utter despair said to a comrade, "Absurd ideas, full of nonsense!"
Tom vaguely heard this remark and couldn't help but become curious. Was this a rare hidden voice line that he triggered?
"What did you say?" he asked the centurion, eager to hear more of these unusual hidden lines.
"I said, Commander, brilliant strategy."
Next to him, Hermione was already enjoying herself immensely.
Tom drew his wand, "Since you're cowering on the mountain, can I dig trenches while advancing?"
"A very reasonable idea," Hermione agreed without difficulty. However, as Tom raised his wand to draw trenches on the hills, she signaled her cavalry, "Cavalry, charge! Sir Knights, please lead the charge!"
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(End of this chapter)
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