By the time Margrave Sigismund Jagiellon had lost the seventh fortress and twenty fifth redoubts, he finally sent armies to camp around the remaining fortresses. 

That move was proven to be as effective as the invaders stopped their attack for two days. However, the attack resumes on the subsequent third day, albeit in a different form.

Now, Cass's strategy was to send dark elves and some former refugees into the woods. The attackers then launched a guerilla campaign, ambushing enemy encampments on a daily basis before escaping into the woods.

Meanwhile, reinforcements from the south sloughed through muds and ashes for days without seeing any sign of life. The guerilla ambushers had unexpectedly vanished, avoiding face to face fight with the powerful host for the moment....but not before burning many tents with fiery arrows and killing many pursuers. 

They were in central Castall. It was swampy in many parts. The invaders even purposely created dams on the rivers to flood the land around, making it extremely difficult for the heavy cavalry of Castall to move freely. 

The host was struggling all day. They had no food to eat. Rather than scorched earth policy, the invaders smartly took over the villages that produced the food for the central region. The eleven villages and Tihany Town were not wealthy, not the mining region and not the trading area but they were the heart of the food supply.

The cavalry had to stop their chase as over a dozen of their men were shot and scattered on the  man made swamp. 

Two of the Castall captain had conversation on their horse.

"Who did these to the land they are not familiar with?"

"The invaders deprive us of food. Any word from out scouts?"

"Not yet. They have been gone for more than a day now."

The captain who looked older stared around towards the woods. He said,

"Those rascals are out there.. watching and waiting..."

The Castall knights were restless as the invaders were as good as bandits. Hit and run raids. Light cavalry battle. Traps. Drawing the Castall forces in ever more ever further from theur bases and their supply lines. There was nothing theee for them to sustain themselves, drawing them ever more into all or nothing campaign. 

"Aiiiii!"

"Suddenly, they heard a battle cry. No. There were many battle cries and sound of galloping horses. 

When an army didn't have the advantage.of number and familiarity of the homeland, that army had to choose their own best position, attract the enemies there, and just tried to inflict as many damages as they could. The invaders were all very light cavalry. They were equipped with only bows and arrows. They attacked in small packs, against the bigger, heavier and slower Castall cavalry, but made the invaders deadly was the element of surprise. 

From the first moment, they could have over 50 Castall heavy cavalry dead. In the next minute, they could have another 50 heavy cavalry deed. 

The ambush usually lasted for several minutes but over one hundred Castall heavy cavalry were killed.

The invaders tried to lure the host into the woods. In first several occasions, the host took the bait and were annihilated in the woods. But after several bad experiences, the host understood that there were deadly traps.

"Return to the formation. Don't chase after the rascals. Wait for my signal!"

The veteran Castall captain shouted. He himself was a swordmaster who had killed many foes. He was a baron. That alone made him the commanding figure over the other baron ranked captain who was a lot younger. 

The sound of galloping became more distant. 

"Those rascals were very good. No. Their strategist was something else."

The veteran baron commented and gave cue to the survivors to return to the bases.